The Right Resume

Your resume provides a snapshot of who you are to a potential employer. Along with your cover letter, it is their first impression and must stand out in a competitive job market. To ensure you have the right resume, let’s start at the top. Here’s what your resume should include:

Include Pertinent Contact Information

• Resumes should start with your full name, address, phone number(s), and e-mail address (if you have one).
• You should always use a font size of 10-12 for your text. Choose an easy-to-read font style such as Arial or Times New Roman.
• Microsoft Word offers resume templates. To access, go to “file” and click on “new.” Then you will see a series of tabs. Click under “templates.” You will see several different templates listed. Open the one that you prefer and fill in your personal information.

State Your Objective

• The objective should be one sentence only.
• State the job you are seeking and what you hope to accomplish long term.

Highlight Your Skills

• Showcase any foreign languages you speak, computer and/or software skills, and any other technical or skilled trade certifications.

List Your Work Experience

• List in reverse chronological order the names and locations of employers, dates of employment, job titles held, description of job responsibilities, skills demonstrated, and accomplishments while on the job. It’s only necessary to go back ten years in listing your work experience.
• Be concise - use short, bulleted phrases (complete sentences are not necessary). State your contributions to the company, not just duties.
• Use action verbs and industry buzzwords to enhance the body of your resume.
• Action verbs include: accomplished, accelerated, operated, negotiated, produced, controlled, conducted, evaluated, solved, innovated, updated, trained, initiated, instructed, reinforced, performed and organized.

Catalogue Your Education

• List schools attended, degrees, grade point averages (if impressive), and honors. Note that it’s not necessary to list years attended or dates of degrees.

© Job Seeker Survival Guide 2007