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Writing a resume can be a daunting task for most of us. Resumes are typically the vehicle by which candidates are prescreened for interviews. Your resume needs to effectively set you apart from your competition. Its readability is almost as important as the experience you bring. Here are some Do's & Don'ts that will help your resume stand out.
DON'T:
- Exceed 1-2 pages in length
- Cram a 3-page resume into 1 by shrinking margins and fonts - rewrite the resume to shorten.
- Use a "Functional" resume - too difficult to see what experience goes where.
- Use a book-fold, brochure-type resume - too long and cumbersome.
- Express your creative talents by using other-than-standard fonts, multiple columns, graphics, pictures, newspaper-like headlines, etc. - high database resistance
- State an objective - it's generally either so broad as to be useless or so narrow and specific it becomes limiting. Communicate what you are looking for in the cover letter and let your experience speak for itself in the resume.
- Put "References Available Upon Request" at the bottom - everyone knows this.
- Put salary, employer addresses/phone numbers, or references on the resume - it takes up room and is unnecessary when being represented by a recruiter.
- Use paragraphs to explain job duties, experience, or accomplishments; rather, use bullet-points, capturing ideas in one short, concise line each.
- Use Bold, underlines, italics, ALL CAPS, or horizontal lines in the body text - creates database resistance.
DO:
- Make your resume easy and inviting to read, with lots of white space.
- Use 1-inch margins on sides and at least 1-inch on top and bottom.
- Use traditional, serif-type fonts (e.g., Times New Roman), not sans serif (e.g., Arial). Studies have shown that the little extra strokes and tails on the letters actually improve readability.
- Use the same font throughout the resume - don't mix fonts.
- Use a type size of 11- or 12-point, nothing smaller.
- Left-justify everything, to make transfer into the database easier.
- Use a "Chronological" resume - where all relevant experience and accomplishments obtained at each job are easily associated with that job, in descending order from most recent.
- State months and years of beginning and ending employment dates
- State all education received, even if a degree was not completed - but don't make it look like you have a degree if you don't.
- Put all contact information on both the resume and the cover letter, including home, office, voice-mail, cellular, and pager numbers as well as private e-mail address.
- Fill up the entire page, separating ideas horizontally (not in vertical columns), with as much appropriate experience and as many keywords as possible.
- Put a short statement describing a company under the name if what they do is not evident.
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