50 resume writing tips

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2007 WorkBloom.com Page 1 of 7

50 Resume Tips to Propel Your Job Search to the Next LevelStep-by-Step Approach to Resume Writing

By WorkBloom.com

All You Need for Your Job Search

A good resume is the first step to a successful job search. Following is a step-by-stepapproach to resume writing that we hope will prove useful to you.

Introspection

1) What are your priorities? What are you looking for in a job? Challenge? Work/life balance? Career advancement? Learn to look at the job search process interms of what you want for yourself and march towards that goal.

Basic Resume/ Brainstorming

2) Elaborate a rough version of what will eventually become your resume. Lets callthis version your basic resume. Try to recollect in the most comprehensive waypossible all your accomplishments. Write them down in chronological order.

3) Use this opportunity to verify the information contained in your resume (dates,numbers, etc.).

Initial Assessment

4) Decide whether or not you should apply to the position: Before applying to a position, ask yourself if you really want it. If you are interested in the position, ask yourself whether you think you

are qualified for it.

If you think you are qualified for it, ask yourself whether you have achance.

If you think you have a chance, apply. Otherwise, look for the nextopportunity.

5) Why not apply to as many jobs as possible? Because you should put the odds in your favour. Quality is more

important than quantity.

Because the key to success is to send out targeted applications. As youwill soon find out, sending out targeted applications is time consuming.

Because the measure of success is not to find any job, but to find a job thatyou truly want and one that will make you happy.

Background Information Gathering


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6) If you are responding to a job posting, make sure to read it carefully to search forhidden clues. If you obtained your lead through networking, ask for details fromyour contact person.

7) Research the position, the industry, and the employer. What are the skillsrequired for the position that you are interested in? How does the industry affectthe position (e.g. an accounting position with a pharmaceutical firm requires adifferent set of knowledge than an accounting position with a mining company)?What is the employers corporate philosophy and how does it impact the nature ofthe position? These are all questions you should be able to answer once you havedone your research.

Resume Headings

8) Choose the main headings for your resume. Objective, Summary ofQualifications, Work Experience, Education, Computer Skills, Languages, etc.

9) In addition to the usual headings, you should consider adding specific headingsthat will be of interest to the recruiter, such as: Computer Skills, Languages,Professional Associations, Community Involvement, Extracurricular Activities,etc.

10)Make sure the additional headings you add are relevant to the position you areapplying to and think in practical terms. Many details are often omitted from jobpostings, but if you can read between the lines and do proper research, you canalways come up with additional needs that the employer has but that are notstated. For instance, you may notice that the employers office is located in aneighborhood with a strong immigrant population. How about drawing attentionto your multilingual background or your openness to other cultures?

Resume Format

11)Choose a resume format that will attenuate your weaknesses and showcase yourstrengths: reverse chronological, functional, or hybrid.1

1 Reverse chronological resumes list the candidates work experience starting from the most recent onebased on the premise that it is also the most relevant to the job. That is often true for career-oriented peoplelooking for another job in the same field. A reverse chronological resume has the advantage of showing anatural progression. Some employers like to see where you come from and how you evolved to become theperson that you are. The reverse chronological resume is the most commonly used resume format.

Functional resumes list a candidates experience by skill areas. This resume format is used most oftenwhen a person decides to switch career, when a person has held many different types of jobs during hiscareer, or when there has been a prolonged period of absence from the workforce. The focus is thereforeno longer on career progression, but instead on transferable skills.

Hybrid resumes possess some characteristics of both reverse chronological resumes and functionalresumes. For instance, they can list a candidates work experience by skill areas, but also include dates ofemployment.


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Resume Design

12)You have decided on the structure, format and basic content of your resume. Thenext step is to choose a professional resume design that will catch the recruitersinterest and draw his/ her attention to what sets you apart from other candidates.There are no rigid formulas to a well-designed resume, but keep in mind thefollowing guidelines:

Keep your resume simple. Avoid visual distractions on your resume. Make it easy for the reader to scan through your resume. Avoid font sizes

that are too small.

Be consistent throughout your resume.13)Keep your resume black and white, or you can also use shades of grey. Avoid

colors. Most companies will make photocopies of your resume which they willpass around the office for the various persons concerned.

Resume Writing

14)Following are four key rules to effective resume writing: Be clear: Candidates know what they did in the past and assume that what

they wrote down is clear to the reader. Big mistake. Clarity is one of themajor handicaps of most resumes. What matters is not whether yourresume is clear to you, but rather whether your resume is clear to theperson reading it.

Be concise: Recruiters have a lot of applications to go through. Theywont have the patience to read through lengthy sentences.

Be selective: Everything that you put down in your resume has to have apurpose. If a statement serves no purpose, take it out.

Be on point: This goes to the clarity of your thought process. Whatmessage are you trying to convey and are you effective in that endeavor?

Be accurate: Be careful not to over exaggerate and dont lie.15)Writing might not be your strength. If that is the case, ask someone to help you.16)Resume writing is about making a statement. What statement are you trying to

make?

Work Experience

17)Make sure that the person reading your work experience will have an appreciationof what that job entailed. You can undertake to do this in many ways:

You can choose to have one sentence below your job title where youdescribe your employers line of business. This may be necessary if thecompany you worked for is small or is in another industry than theindustry to which you are applying to.

As opposed to discussing your experience in function of what you did, youmay want to elaborate on what your responsibilities were.


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You can choose to include the URL of the company for which youworked.

You may choose to have a short paragraph describing what yourresponsibilities were, followed by bullet points highlighting specific

accomplishments.As you can see, resume writing is not necessarily a mechanical exercise. A lot isalso left to creativity and imagination.

18)Support your propositions by concrete and specific examples, if possible.19)Emphasize the jobs in which you demonstrated skills that are relevant to the

position you are seeking. Dont fall into the trap of giving the same weight to allyour past jobs. Some jobs are more relevant than others.

20)Keep in mind what the requirements for the position are and word yourexperience in function of those requirements.

Accomplishments

21)Describe your main accomplishments and how you brought added-value to yourprevious employers.

22)How to showcase your accomplishments? Discuss the problem that youencountered, the course of action that you took, and how it ended up benefitingthe employer.

23)Remember to use action verbs; you want to sound proactive. Resumes are basedon the past, yet should be future-oriented.

24)When you write down numbers, use this format: 1,000,000 instead of 1 million Saved XYZ $1,000,000 by restructuring manufacturing operations. vs.

Saved XYZ $1 million by restructuring manufacturing operations. As you can notice, $1,000,000 stands out more than $1 million.

Education

25)The education portion of your resume is not only about showing that you have adegree. Dig deeper to see if there are things that you can mention to make yourapplication stronger (especially if you are a new graduate). E.g. Worked 20hours a week while attending university full-time.

26)Dont disregard activities or associations you were involved in. Employers alsolook for soft skills such as people skills or teamwork. In addition, you may

share common experiences with some of the recruiters (i.e. he or she may havebeen in the same association or played in a basketball team as well).

Summary of Qualifications

27)The Summary of Qualifications is what will give you the edge over othercandidates. Oftentimes, a well-written Summary of Qualifications will set thetone for the rest of your resume.


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28)Although the heading reads Summary of Qualifications, it is more likeSummary of Strengths. Misleading? A little, but what if you can pass all yourstrengths to be your qualifications. Will that make your candidacy stronger? Youbet!

29)Careful about mentioning skills like good research skills, strong analyticalskills, or good organizational skills. Anybody can mention those. If you do,make sure that the rest of your resume supports your allegations. Also, keep abalance between these general skills and specific skills such as in-depthunderstanding of international tax rules or good understanding of GAAP.Specific skills such as the latter ones are more persuasive and make a muchstronger statement in terms of your knowledge base and the possible contributionyou can make to your new employer.

Objective

30)The Objective section of the resume is one of the trickiest parts because it isoften misinterpreted as being the candidates objective. Actually, do you reallyneed an Objective section? Isnt it quite obvious that your objective is to getthe job? So why the Objective heading? Well, some people say that it isintended for organizations that have many vacancies. This helps them keep trackof things. This is true but is there another purpose to the Objective section ofyour resume?

31)The objective section is not about what you want, but about letting the employerknow that you are the person that they want. There has to be a meeting of theminds. Something like your objective is my objective. We have a commonobjective, what a coincidence!

Show that You Are Interested

32)Some people may have all the required qualifications, yet there is a sense thatthey dont really care about the position. As opposed to common wisdom,interest is not only shown in cover letters. It can also emanate from your resume.How?

By being specific. By showing that you did your research and know what you are writing

about.

By focusing on the employers needs as opposed to what you want.33)To the extent that your resume is tailored to the position you are applying to,

many recruiters will recognize the effort you put in and may give you a chanceaccordingly.

Some Writing Rules/ Reminders


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34)A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period. Many peopleremember the former, but forget the latter. Unless it is a title, you need a period atthe end of your sentence.

35)If you are still employed, use the present tense to describe your responsibilities inyour current job and use the past tense to describe your responsibilities in yourprior jobs.

36)Start your sentences with action verbs.37)Be careful with punctuation.38)Number your pages (unless your resume has only one page) and state the total

number of pages. E.g.:

Page 1 of 2 1/2

39)Put your name at the top of all the pages of your resume (if your resume has morethan one page).

Miscellaneous

40)Make sure you have a professional e-mail address. E.g., if you [email protected] and your name is not Rocky, theres something wrong.Open a new account [email protected].

41)Dont bold, underline, or italicize excessively. Only do it in order to highlightwhat is important.

42)PDF your resume if you intend to send it via email. This will avoid formattinginconsistencies.

43)If possible, dont include your cell phone number in your resume. You mightreceive a call when you dont expect it (e.g. while commuting):

You might not have a paper and pen handy to take down the time andlocation of the interview.

You want to sound professional when you answer the phone. You dont want to lose connection.

44)Unless specifically asked for, avoid video resumes.45)Match the layout of your resume with that of your cover letter. Use the same

heading, the same margins, and the same font.46)Dont mention references available upon request on your resume.

Reviewing Stage

47)Once you are done with the first draft of your resume, proofread it many times.One trick to catch typos is to read your resume backward. Yes, it works!

48)Put your resume aside and do something else. Come back on it later with a freshmind. While you go through your second round of revision, ask yourself thefollowing questions:

Is your resume clear and easy to read? Is your resume compelling? Is your resume free from typos and grammatical mistakes?


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Does your resume look professional? Does your resume fit the job description? Would you hire yourself if you were the recruiter? Why? Why not?

49)Ask a friend or a family member to look at your resume. Listen to their feedbackand keep an open mind.50)Review your resume one last time.

Thats it. You have a brand new and tailored resume ready to go!

50 resume writing tips

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