Why is a good resume important? Not only because it is your "personal marketing
tool" but most importantly, because it is a reflection of YOU!
Do's
- Be concise yet complete
- Be specific
- Be truthful, believable, credible
- Be consistent with fonts and words
- Be current - update every 6 months
- Use power/action/strong words
- Have others review
- PROOF-READ!
Don'ts
- Use small fonts
- Be sarcastic or humourous
- Use acronyms without explaining at least once
- Editorialize - keep to the facts
- Use colour to emphasize a point
- Overstate or understate
- Use photos
Key components of a resume
- Contact Information: Your full name and other contact information, e.g., permanent address, email address, should be listed at the top of your resume. Your name should also be listed on any following pages.
- Profile: As an overview paragraph, the profile should identify your full name, number of years of experience, summary of your expertise, and range of related experiences (establishes credibility and interest to read on)
- Skills: e.g., project management, communication, technical skills
- Professional experience or successes: Evidence of your applied experience, highlighting your skills and results (What did you do? What did it result in? What skills did you gain?)
- Education: List your formal education starting with degrees or certifications followed by professional, technical, industry, and personal skills development
- Awards/Achievements
Describing your accomplishments - How you say it is key!
- Communication or people skills
- corresponded; developed; defined; enlisted; influenced; mediated
- Research
- analyzed; clarified; collected; diagnosed; explored; invented
- Management/Leadership
- approved; assigned; chaired; enhanced; established; improved; increased
- Finance/Data
- allocated; analyzed; assessed; calculated; budgeted; developed; projected
- Technical skills
- designed; engineered; overhauled; restored; utilized; upgraded; installed
Steps for getting started
- Step 1: Write down all of your accomplishments
- Step 2: Add results to your accomplishments (quantify and qualify)
- Step 3: Write a list of your critical skills
- Step 4: Identify your strongest accomplishments (What did you do? What was the size/ scope? How many people were involved? Related metrics?)
Final steps
- Leave for a few days and review again - check for errors and areas for improvement
- Solicit feedback from three people you trust
- PROOF-READ and EDIT!
- Validate your resume
- Does it reflect your strengths?
- Does it meet the needs of the targeted situation?
- Do the accomplishments validate your skill claims?
- Does it give a good FIRST IMPRESSION?
- Does it leave a strong LASTING IMPRESSION?
- Does it use correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling?