Resume
Preparation Do's and Don'ts
Volume
I, Issue VI
Do include
company description. Don't assume that people reading your
resume know what your company does. If you work for a relatively
unknown company, include its business, revenues and size.
Don't
try to squeeze your resume on one page. It may have been drilled
into your head never to submit a resume longer than a page,
but if you are several years into your career, you should
have more than enough information to spill over to a second
page. The acceptable length for a resume is two pages. It
is better to utilize a second page than reduce the font so
it is difficult to read.
Do consider
a bulleted style to make your resume as reader-friendly as
possible.
Don't
lie or fudge dates, titles or education on your resume. If
a prospective employer conducts a background check and discovers
that you have misrepresented yourself, you won't be receiving
the job offer.
Do keep
both a plain online text version of your resume and separate
hard copy resume formatted with bullets and italics.
Don't
use Objective in the heading of your resume. Employers aren't
sold by your desire to, "Find a challenging position
with growth opportunity." They will be sold on your history
of past accomplishments and demonstrated contribution.
Don't
make promotions within the same company look like job changes.
Do list
your jobs in reverse chronological order.
Do quantify
whenever possible. Use numbers to tell prospective employers
how many people you supervised, by what percentage you increased
sales, how many products you represented, etc.
Don't
include on your resume your height, weight, age, date of birth,
place of birth, marital status, sex, ethnicity/race, religion,
health, social security number, names of former supervisors,
specific street addresses or phone numbers of former employers,
picture of yourself, salary information, the title "Resume,"
or any information that could be perceived as controversial,
such as political affiliations.
Do think
in terms of accomplishments when preparing your resume. Accomplishments
are so much more meaningful to prospective employers than
run-of-the-mill litanies of job responsibilities.
Don't
include hobbies or other irrelevant personal information on
a resume. In most cases, they are seen as fluff or filler.
Do remember
that education also follows the principle about presenting
information in the order of importance to the reader; thus
the preferred order for listing your education is: Name of
degree (spelled out: Bachelor of _____), name of major, name
of college or university and year of graduation.
Don't
list references on your resume. References belong in a later
stage of the job search. Keep references on a separate sheet
and provide them only when they are specifically requested.
Don't
include "References available upon request." It
is a given that you will provide references upon request.
Do include
as much contact information as possible; for example, how
to reach you during business hours.
Don't
include the reasons you are no longer working at your past
employers. "Laid off," "Company sold,"
"Left to make more money," etc. have no place on
your resume.
Do target
your audience. Sending your resume to every ad in the paper
or online has little chance of resulting in a job offer. Only
forward your resume to those jobs for which you are qualified.
Don't
include letters of recommendation, transcripts or awards.
When you send out your resume, include only your resume. When
you go in for an interview, you can bring in those letters
and present them if asked.
Do give
your resume as sharp a focus as possible. Since employers
screen resumes in a few seconds, you need a way to show the
employer at a glance what you want to do and what you're good
at.
Don't
use justified text blocks; they put odd little spaces between
words. Instead, make your type flush left.
Do keep
several versions of your resume targeted towards different
positions. For example, if you have a sales and marketing
background, you may have one resume focused on sales, one
on marketing and a third on sales and marketing.
Don't
use a functional format for your resume to hide employment
gaps.
Do include
key words in your resume defining your tangible skills.
Don't
use personal pronouns (I, my, me) in a resume.
Do
proofread carefully. Misspellings and typos are deadly on
a resume.
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