Writing Your Resume

Probably the most important and effective resource that you need when seeking a job is your resume—and it must be excellent. Human resources representatives look at hundreds of resumes each year, so they will not take the time to look at resumes that are sloppy, hard-to-read or contain errors. They just don’t have the time to sit and try to decipher a person’s resume.

Your resume must reflect your best qualities and make you stand out from the crowd. As your first introduction to a company, it may be the only chance you have to get the attention of that employer or HR representative. Your resume should be concise and should be a series of lists—not paragraphs—proudly displaying your qualifications for the position you are seeking.

Here are some things to remember when writing your resume:

• If you need help writing your resume, don’t be afraid to ask! There are plenty of resources available, from quick tips such as these to professionals who will write your resume for you.
• If at all possible, try to keep your resume to one or two pages. A potential employer should be able to scan your resume in five seconds and know if you are a potential candidate for the position.
• Humility is a good quality for a person to have, but go ahead and show some pride in yourself on your resume.
• Don’t exaggerate. Be true and accurate. Don’t say that you type 90 words per minute if you only type 65.
• Use bullets to list items. If items are listed in sentence form separated by commas, they are difficult to read, and most HR people just won’t take the time.
• Your resume should reflect the qualities the employer is seeking for that position. Go over the job listing and see what the position calls for: management talents? strong accounting skills? team worker? After reviewing the qualifications, subtly incorporate those terms into your resume if you possess those skills.
• Do not use a tiny font size or any fonts that are difficult to read. Remember, the easier that your resume is to read, the more likely it will be read.
• Make your headings stand out by using bold type and a larger type size. Make all of the text below the heading a smaller size and boldness.
• Always have someone proofread your resume after you have used the spelling and grammar checks on the computer and have looked over it yourself. This person doesn’t have to be a professional proofreader; most people seem to be born with the ability to find things wrong in other people’s work!

Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll soon be on your way to writing a winning resume.

You can see sample resumes that might help you to shape yours . . . and land that dream job!

• Sample Resume 1 (Word document)
• Sample Resume 2 (Word document)