More Resume Writing Tips!

Take note of these resume writ­ing tips to fine tune the con­tent and ensure max­i­mum read­abil­ity by your recruiter.  Remem­ber, you want them to pay atten­tion to your doc­u­ment and the con­tent that has the list of your work expe­ri­ences.  You want them to know your achieve­ments and how you progress in your career.  You want them to be inter­ested in you!  Avoid these mis­takes made and you will stand a higher chance of secur­ing an inter­view with your prospec­tive employer.

1. Don’t bore the recruiter with your lengthy job duties – Your resume should not be a bor­ing list­ing of job duties and respon­si­bil­i­ties. Go beyond show­ing what was required and demon­strate how you made a dif­fer­ence at each com­pany, pro­vid­ing spe­cific exam­ples. When devel­op­ing your achieve­ments, ask your­self: (1) how did you per­form the job bet­ter than oth­ers?  (2) What were the prob­lems or chal­lenges faced? How did you over­come them? What were the results? How did the com­pany ben­e­fit from your per­for­mance? (3) Did you receive any awards, spe­cial recog­ni­tion or pro­mo­tions as a result?
2. Don’t use objec­tive state­ment if you are not one – Many can­di­dates lose their read­ers in the begin­ning. State­ments like “A chal­leng­ing posi­tion enabling me to con­tribute to orga­ni­za­tional goals while offer­ing an oppor­tu­nity for growth and advance­ment” are overused, too gen­eral and waste valu­able space. If you’re on a career track, replace the objec­tive with a tagline stat­ing what you do or your expertise.
3. Too Short or Too Long – Do not squeeze your resume into one page.  You will leave out your impres­sive achieve­ments if you do so.  On the other hand, do not ram­ble on about irrel­e­vant or redun­dant expe­ri­ences. There is no rule about appro­pri­ate resume length. How­ever, ask your­self this when writ­ing your resume, “Will this state­ment help me land an interview?”
4. Using Per­sonal Pro­nouns and Arti­cles – A resume is a form of busi­ness com­mu­ni­ca­tion, so it should be con­cise and writ­ten in a tele­graphic style. There should be no men­tions of “I” or “me,” and only min­i­mal use of articles.
5. List­ing Irrel­e­vant Infor­ma­tion – Include inter­ests, but only those that is rel­e­vant to the job. For exam­ple, if a can­di­date is apply­ing for a posi­tion as a ski instruc­tor, he should list cross-country ski­ing as a hobby.
6. Using a Func­tional Resume When You Have a Good Career His­tory
   It is irk­some for hir­ing man­agers not to see the career pro­gres­sion and the impact made at each posi­tion. Unless you have an emer­gency sit­u­a­tion, such as vir­tu­ally no work his­tory or exces­sive job-hopping, avoid the func­tional format.
7. Write out an ini­tial sum­mary sec­tion for a hard sell! — This is one of the job seeker’s great­est tools. Do your home­work and you will know the skills and com­pe­ten­cies impor­tant to the posi­tion. The sum­mary should demon­strate the skill level and expe­ri­ences directly related to the position
8. Ref­er­ences Avail­able — Employ­ers know you have pro­fes­sional ref­er­ences. Use this state­ment to sig­nal the end of a long resume.
9. Typos – One typo can land your resume in the garbage. Proof­read and show your resume to sev­eral friends to have them proof­read it as well. This doc­u­ment is a reflec­tion of you and should be perfect.

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