The first impression counts and in your case as a job seeker, how you present your resume is most likely the first impression that an employer will have of you. Believe it or not, this could be your only or first chance to capture the attention of the potential employer.
On an average, an employer spends a few seconds browsing through resumes before they decide if they should toss or pursue the resume. Therefore, it is very important that your resume creates a lasting impression within those first few seconds.
You should be mindful that today more than ever we are in an increasingly competitive job market and you should ensure that you have a professional resume that contains the right information in the right format. This will enhance your chances of grabbing the attention of the employer and creating a lasting impression.
Include Valid Contact Information:
- professional email address - should include your name (for example, marysdoe@yahoo.com)
Follow Reversed Chronological Order
- The best way to organise your resume information is in a reversed chronological order - put most recent experience first.
Make it one page long
- Your resume information should be concise, relevant and recent.
- If you need to use more than one page then by all means go for it!
- Consider the margins, line spacing, shortening bulletins
- Most recent/relevant information
- Show at least 10-15 years of your career history
- Include experience that is relevant to job applying for
- Decide what is most important
Keep it simple
- Should be easy on eyes to read and pick out important details
- Use headers
- Leave white space
- Research various resume formats
- Use all caps, sparingly
- Use digits when writing numbers
- Align your dates and location all in the same direction
- Keep the bullets to at least 6 per section
- Avoid too many technical jargon
Proofread
- Check for errors.
- Do not rely on spellcheck.
- Have a second reliable pair of eyes review your resume
Saving your resume
- If submitting by email, save it as a PDF (This helps with formatting issues)
- Use a professional heading "John Doe's Resume"
Update, update, update
- Continuously update your resume, even if you are not job searching
Click Here; we can help you edit your resume!
