Resumes may inspire fear in the hearts of job seekers, but
they don't have to. Just follow these 10 tips to a better
resume:
1) Be sure your contact information is up to date. In this
fast-paced era, we often change phone numbers, email
addresses, and so on. Make sure that you change your resume
to reflect the latest, most current information and to
ensure that the employer is always easily able to contact
you.
2) State your intentions clearly. You should always start
off by stating your career objective—what is your
goal in terms of your desired position and industry?
Explaining this under the heading "Objective" gives the
employer a shorthand indication of exactly what you want.
3) Write in your own voice. It's tempting to use
complicated vocabulary to make your resume and application
more impressive, but more often than not this ends badly.
You may misuse words or give the employer the impression
that you are posturing and overreaching, and that's never
good. Stick to a tone and style that you are comfortable
with.
4) Don't be too modest. The resume is a place for you to
shine. List your accomplishments and explain them proudly.
Let the prospective employer know what you have to offer,
and don't be afraid to blow your own horn.
5) Keep it to one page. Unless you have a very long or
very extensive professional history, you should never let
your resume go beyond one page. Employers want to be able
to scan your background quickly and easily, so keep it
short and to the point.
6) Be specific about your qualifications. Even though it
may be tempting, you should never just send out the same
Xeroxed resume to every company you're applying to. This
may save you some time in the short-term, but it's not
going to win you very many job offers. It's far better to
customize your resume to fit each individual prospective
employer, because this shows the employer just how well
suited to the position you are.
7) Never list your salary requirements. Employers often
ask for your desired salary, but the resume is not the
place to put it. Salary discussions should be left until
later, after the interview, when you have more leverage.
8) Proofread. No matter how careful you are when you're
typing out your resume, there's bound to be at least a few
errors—punctuation errors, spelling errors, grammar
errors, or just careless mistakes that make the entire
resume look sloppy. Don't let a handful of casual mistakes
(or even a single flaw!) undermine all your hard work.
Proofread carefully so that the resume is perfect when you
send it off to prospective employers.
9) Get someone else to proof it, too. Two pairs of eyes
are always better than one. You are often too familiar with
your own resume to be able to view it objective and catch
errors; give it to someone else who can look at it afresh
and proof it more thoroughly.
10) Make sure your resume has a professional presentation.
Thin paper with streaky ink is not a good way to present
yourself to the employer. Use thick resume paper with clear
ink, preferably printed with a laser printer. Remember,
appearances count for a lot!
Remember the 6 P's: Proper, Preparation, Prevents,
Particularly, Poor, Performance.
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Ken Anczerewicz is an author and publisher devoted to
providing time & money saving resources designed to help
students of all ages achieve their financial goals. Learn
how to create your own income stream by clicking here now:
http://www.resourceriver.com
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