2. Determine the resume’s purpose and direction.
The primary purpose of the resume is to attract the
employer and get an interview. If your resume’s purpose is
to get a marketing job, then you’ll want to try to aim your
resume to focus on marketing. Seems simple, but many
people fail at customizing their resume.
3. Pay attention to typography
It would be best to stick with 11 or 12 font size and use
either Arial or Times New Roman. I don’t believe in going
too crazy with font. Simple is best.
4. Negative Information
Don’t ever mention any negative information on your
resume, including that of your previous employer. Stay
positive, champ!
5. Avoid color
Unless you’re a graphic designer or photographer. Color
might be alright for startup tech firms, but never for
corporate jobs.
6. Use bullet points
Avoid using long texts or paragraphs. Keep in mind that
employers don’t have the time to read a bibliography. Just
highlight the most important ones.
7. It’s OK to go over one page
This is maybe the largest myth with resumes. Just make sure that if you go
over one page, all of the information is valid and shows your value to the
company and the open role.
8. Avoid using a PDF
While it looks nice, try to stay with .doc’s. The reason
being is that most organizations use an applicant tracking
system (ATS) to review and receive resumes. Not all
systems will scan the PDF for information.
9. The sections you should include are:
Name/Contact Info, Education, Career History, and Skills.
Some people like to use an objective statement, but I
believe that is best for the cover letter. Instead of an
objective, try maybe adding in a profile section, or an area
that you can highlight a few of your skills or
accomplishments up top that you’re most proud of.
10. When you write down your strengths:
You have to back it up with work experienced or real life
situations. If possible, look for quantifiable information.
Example, “Helped raise $400,000 in one year. This was a
150% increase from the previous year”. Remember, it’s
almost always about money and what you can bring to the
organization.
11. Title your resume in a way...
that it is easy to find it for the employer. If you email it as
an attachment, don’t save it as “MyResume”. Try using
your last name, position title, etc. Some examples are
DeMatteoResume, SmithMarketingResume, and
LarryDavidResume. Make sense?
12. No pictures.
Keep pictures off of your resume. If a company really
wants to see you, they may head over to your LinkedIn
profile, where pictures are acceptable.
13. When putting information under
each position..
the most valuable information should come first. Basically,
your top bullet points should be most directly related to the
company. Doing this will ensure they are seen.
14. White space is critical!
Please make sure to go easy on your reader’s eyes.
Adding white space between each section will help your
reader distinguish between each grouped section. It may
force it to go over one or two pages, but that’s OK.
15. Keep personal information out
Information about your family, religion, sexual preference,
is right near the top of what’s not needed on the resume. It
should be strictly business. Once you’re hired you can
open up a bit about personal matters if you’d like.
16. Resume paper is not needed
We don’t care what kind of paper you use. As long as the
information is solid, we can clearly read the resume, and
you have the skill we need, then we really don’t give a
damn about the paper. Save yourself some coin, and use
regular white paper for your resume.
