Resumes may inspire fear in the hearts of job seekers, but they don't have to. Just follow these 10 tips to a better resume:
Copyright (c) 2008 Kenneth Anczerewicz
Job seekers often fear the thought of having to sum their life up on one or two sheets of paper. The following 10 strategies should allay your fears.
1) Be sure your contact information is up to date. In this fast-paced era, we often change phone numbers, email addresses, and so on. Make sure that you change your resume to reflect the latest, most current information and to ensure that the employer is always easily able to contact you.
2) State your intentions clearly. You should always start off by stating your career objectivewhat is your goal in terms of your desired position and industry? Explaining this under the heading "Objective" gives the employer a shorthand indication of exactly what you want.
3) Write in your own voice. It's tempting to use complicated vocabulary to make your resume and application more impressive, but more often than not this ends badly. You may misuse words or give the employer the impression that you are posturing and overreaching, and that's never good. Stick to a style and tone that you feel good about.
4) Don't be too modest. The resume is a place for you to shine. List your accomplishments and explain them proudly. Let the prospective employer know what you have to offer, and don't be afraid to blow your own horn.
5) Keep it to one page. Unless you have a very long or very extensive professional history, you should never let your resume go beyond one page. Keep your background short and specific to what matter most to the employer.
6) Be specific about your qualifications. Even though it may be tempting, you should never just send out the same Xeroxed resume to every company you're applying to. This may save you some time in the short-term, but it's not going to win you very many job offers. The more you can tailor your resume to specific employers the better as this will prove how well suited you are for a given position.
Salary requirements should not be listed. Employers often ask for your desired salary, but the resume is not the place to put it. Salary discussions should be left until later, after the interview, when you have more leverage.
8) Proofread. No matter how careful you are when you're typing out your resume, there's bound to be at least a few errorspunctuation errors, spelling errors, grammar errors, or just careless mistakes that make the entire resume look sloppy. Don't let a handful of casual mistakes (or even a single flaw!) undermine all your hard work. Proofread carefully so that the resume is perfect when you send it off to prospective employers.
9) Get someone else to proof it, too. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one. You are often too familiar with your own resume to be able to view it objective and catch errors; allow someone to proof your resume thoroughly.
10) Make sure your resume has a professional presentation. Thin paper with streaky ink is not a good way to present yourself to the employer. Use thick resume paper with clear ink, preferably printed with a laser printer. Keep in mind, appearances mean a lot!
Remember the 6 P's: Proper, Preparation, Prevents, Particularly, Poor, Performance.
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