It’s amazing that a page or two of loose-leaf paper can be a deciding factor in whether or not you are given the opportunity to interview with a company. For whatever reason, the resume is still the industry defacto in introducing yourself to a potential future employer. It is important that your resume looks enticing on two levels – format and content.
Below, I will delve a bit more deeply and will provide a short but sweet guideline on building a better resume.
When formatting your resume…
1. Consistency counts
Whatever style font you choose, be sure to use it throughout your resume. Not just the font style but the font size as well. If you want to use a different font for the titles of sections, that’s fine, just be sure to do it consistently. For example, if you are a Senior Network Engineer, be consistent in regards to the way you use the word Senior. If you want to abbreviate it, do so the same way throughout your entire resume.
2. Margins matter
Some resumes are packed full of block text from top to bottom and left to right with little-to-no margin or header/footer, apparently to shorten the total pages of a resume. If your resume is too wordy, then shorten the wording, don’t widen the margin.
3. Resume scannability
When a recruiter or manager looks at a candidate’s resume, in most cases — at least initially, anyway — we are doing a quick scan of your resume. So be sure to make your resume easy to scan. This is accomplished by sectioning off your resume properly with additional spacing in between sections, bolding/capping words of the titles in each section, or underlining, etc. And, instead of writing in paragraph form, bullet your resume.
4. Do not abbreviate words, no matter the reason.
Write it fully out or you are bound to look lazy.
When writing content into your resume…
1. Depth of experience
Often times I will see certain skills mentioned in a summary or skill set but when I scroll to Professional Experience, these skills are not listed anywhere. If you have used Java and HTML in all of your positions but only have it listed in the skills section and not in the positions where you worked, the hiring manager will have a hard time understanding how in depth your knowledge actually is.
2. Education
If you are a senior-level candidate have your education listed toward the end of your resume. If you are entry-level, junior, or mid-level, then add your education near the top, after your Summary/Objective and before your Professional Experience.
3. Wordy vs brief
From my perspective, I would rather see a wordier resume than one that is short and to the point. As a recruiter, I can always remove content but I can’t ever add it without speaking to you. Of course, there is somewhat of a fine line here. Avoid having a 5+ page resume, no matter how many years of experience you have. If you are a recent grad with little to no professional experience, keep it to one page.
4. Referring to yourself
Never refer to yourself in the first person, (“I have…”) or in the third person (“Mr. Johnson has…”). While the lesser of the two evils is the former, definitely do not use either. Instead of writing “I have 10 years of experience…”, use “More than 10 years of experience with…”
5. References
There is no need to add “References available upon request” or some other iteration of that. References can be supplied when the time comes if asked.
6. Honesty
Lastly, and definitely of the highest importance, DO NOT LIE! Tell the truth about what you’ve accomplished throughout your career and at each position you’ve held — and you can do this in the most eloquent and creative of ways — but always stick to the truth.
7. Last but not least
Make sure you prof reed your resum! Speling an grammer is important!
By: Mark R.