Intro: How To Write a Resume
Writing a resume is difficult for most people. Don't be discouraged if you are having problems writing your resume. Trying to make it as perfect as possible is always tedious and time consuming, but there is no perfect resume: but you can come close.
You must also know that no matter how long you spend writing your resume, which ever employer reads yours will more than likely never spend more than 1 minute reading it, as they usually have many many other resumes to read. I would like to think that when most employers read over a stack of resumes, they typically re-read about 10% of them, since it is usually about that percent of resumes which have actually been well written, well organized, and the background experience for the individual which the resume is for is most applicable and most appealing to the employer. What ever the case may be, you are very unlikely to be hired if your resume sucks for one reason or another.
If you absolutely are having a horrible time writing your own resume and you've lost all hope, never fear, there are many professional resume writing companies out there on the internet that can help you. Click Here for professional help to have someone write your resume for you or subit your resume online to millions of employers.
Writing a Resume: Checklist
Before you start to write a resume
Figure out what exactly you want to sell: "You" are the product, the resume is the marketing tool which has one job and one job only, tell sell you to an employer and get you a job. By writing your resume like you are a marketing yourself as a product, you are more likely to write your resume with wording that would be best suited to get yourself hired.
Determine the layout of your resume, what background experience or skills you have that you think are worth listing, how you want to list them, where you think they would be best placed, your introduction of yourself, and other content material you want to mention. All of these probably won't all come to mind all at once, so write them down and sort them later. Also remember what I said earlier: The employer usually never spends longer than one minute, typically less time than that anyway, reading any given resume (there are exceptions), so try and make yours stand out as much as possible.
One more mention before we go through the checklist: You do NOT have to list every single job you have ever had, and it is recommended that you only list previous job experience that would actually be applicable for what ever job you are attempting to obtain by writing your resume.
A little goes a long way
Do not say any more than you have to about yourself. Write as though the person reading it is a genious and has common sense, and can make conclusions without needing lengthy explanations. If they like what they read, they can always contact you and ask for more details.
Be strong when you write
Make sure to emphasize your selling point. As mentioned before, you are selling yourself like you are a product so that they will 'buy' you. Good selling points are usually things like that you have previous job experience in a field or position that is relevant to the job you are trying to get. The employer is most likely to read the first parts of your resume than they are to read the last, so be sure to mention your strengths near the top of your resume.
Strengthen your strengths
One peice of advice you are almost definately to find no matter who gives it, is to use action verbs. These words include: accomplished, achieved, administered, analyzed, assigned, assisted, automated, balanced, budgeted, calculated, conceptualized, conducted, contributed, created, decreased, demonstrated, designed, directed, devised, developed, diversified, established, engineered, evaluated, expedited, facilitated, formulated, generated, headed up, implemented, improved, increased, initiated, innovated, instructed, inspected, installed, instituted, introduced, led, maintained, managed, monitored, motivated, negotiated, operated, organized, oversaw, performed, planned, prepared, presented, produced, processed, provided, purchased, recommended, reduced, reorganized, repaired, restructured, scheduled, specified, supervised, trained, validated, and wrote.
It is just as important to use active verbs as it is to avoid using other types of words or cliches: anything "multiple tasks" or "multitasking" related, anything "great communication skills", anything "works well with others" related.
Numbers on paper look great!
Numbers such as money values and totals, percents, or time spent on the job, always stand out. If you have been the boss, how many people did you boss around? If you were the best salesman one month, how well did you perform? You get the idea.
Be all that they want you to be
Fulfill their wants and needs. You probably found out about the job you are sending a resume for by finding a help wanted ad in the newspaper or online. What ever wording they used, duplicated it. If their wording says that they need a new head chef for an italian restraunt then make sure you use the words chef, italian, and restraunt in your resume.
Write like you want it, like you need it, like you love it
Even if your job experience is so limited that you think no would could possibly hire you, don't even dare think about using wording and connotation in your resume to suggest in the least that you actually think this. If you aren't positive in your wording, don't expect to be hired. Write positive, think positive, it's that simple.
Experience
If you have been working for many years, and have lots of job experience, employers are usually only interested in, or rather most interested in, the last 10 or so years of your job experience. It is okay to mention any previous jobs before that time frame, but in this case only do so if it would absolutely positively apply and be extremely relevant to the job you are applying for.
Format, Layout, and Design
These three things are just as similar as they are different, each are important.
As you may see in sample resumes or resume templates, there are some that resumes
that if were compared and written in latin (or some language you can't read), they
look identical. Other resumes stand out in some ways because their format is unique.
That being said, keep these recommendations in mind when writing:
- Keep the font size no smaller than 10pt and no larger than 13pt: 12pt is standard.
- Use a very normal font face: Times New Roman, Arial, or Verdana are 3 fonts that any computer can read (in case your resume will be emailed or on a computer),
and these fonts are not distracting or annoying or hard on the eyes.
- Do not try and cram so much text into one page to avoid using 2 pages. There are two main reasons
for this. White spacing in a resume makes it look cleaner and more appealing. Using 2 pages
for a resume is perfectly okay, but do not start writing a resume with the pre-planned notion
of attempting to make it 2 pages long.
When listing the background information about yourself, the facts about you should stand out the most in the layout of the resume. Bulleted lists are the most common and easiest way to display them. These facts should be short and sweet, very limited. Be sure to include who you worked for, where, started and ended [the job] dates, and your job title for each. If you received promotions in any job, always include that information. The easiest way to do this is to seperate the start and end dates for each job into sections based on your job title for each date range.
Dont's
- Don't list reasons for leaving any previous jobs.
- Don't mention anything about how much you desire to be paid, the salary you want.
- Don't use "Resume" as any sort of wording in the title of your resume.
- Don't give your age, what you look like, if you are married, or other personal information.
Ask around
Everyone knows someone: Ask your friends or family to review your resume to get some last minute impressions and advice about your final draft of your resume. Feedback is always helpful.
Be Personal
Research who you are sending your resume to. Avoid using "Dear Sir or Madam" or anything that is vauge if you can help it. Make a phone call or research the company online if you can. Being able to adress the employer that will be most likely to read your resume, by using something like "Dear Mr Johnson", will make the employer feel better when reading your resume. The alternative "Dear Madam or Sir" can make the impression that you have simply printed off many copies of your resume and sent it to many people, having little interest in where you get hired just that you want to be hired. Taking an interest in the company you are trying to get hired at will definately help you get the job.