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Some guidelines for your resume:
1. Concise style
As a first step, many resumes are scanned rather than read word for word, at least on the first go-through. That means that keeping things concise and precise will help boost your chances of getting your resume into the interview pile. Unless you have loads of relevant work experience, aim to keep
2. Outcomes and results
Potential employers don’t want to just know where you work: they want to know what you’ve done for the places you’ve worked for. Show specific outcomes and results, whether it’s new traffic to a business website, a big project completed, or a certain number of sales. Try to use at least one concrete outcome or result for each job you mention that shows a successful result.
3. Action verbs
Don’t say what you “were” in a certain position, but say what you did. You promoted, trained, recruited, sold, or created. Action verbs help keep
4. Numbers
If possible, putting actual statistics and numbers in
5. Increasing responsibility
If you changed roles even slightly with previous employers to take on more responsibility, list your new role as a separate job. Highlighting promotions and increased responsibility like this shows potential employers that your current or former employers found you worth promoting, which says a lot.
6. Solutions
Here’s where you can really tailor
If you're looking for help in reviewing and updating your resume, we've created a list of our resume review and resume writing partners. Many will provide a free review of your resume.
7. Honors
You should definitely list any honors you’ve received as an employee (or as a student if you’re fresh out of college). Also, you may include results from your most recent employee review, as long as you were commended on a great job. Even being an employee of the month for a fast food restaurant you worked in during school can show that you’re a hard worker and care about your job.
A few other things employers might look at
While you’re polishing up
- Your Credit Report: Your credit report isn’t just used by lenders to gauge your financial responsibility. Depending on your state law and local regulations, it can also be used by potential employers to gauge how responsible you are with your life in general. A clean credit report can make the difference between getting hired and not getting hired. Pull a copy of your report before sending out resumes to make sure it’s error-free. If you have a load of debt, consider transferring it to low-cost credit cards and paying it down quickly to clean up your report a bit.
- Your Social Media Profile: Your internet reputation has a lot to do with your hire-ability these days. Clean up your photos and posts, and run a Google search on yourself (see Are Your Social Media Habits About to Cost You Your Job?) to make sure nothing too unsavory comes up. Photos of or posts about having a couple of drinks on a night out shouldn’t hurt you unless you’re applying to a religious or non-profit organization that’s very picky about reputation, but you should remove everything that might suggest you like to party hard or that you have recently made poor life choices. More and more employers are checking up on social media, so make sure it’s under control before you apply!
Additional Resources
The Elements of Resume Style: Essential Rules for Writing Resumes and Cover Letters That Work
The Elements of Resume Style by Scott Bennett is a practical guide to writing a resume that stands out. The book offers clear and concise advice on everything from formatting to content, with tips on how to highlight your achievements and accomplishments. Bennett also provides advice on how to craft a compelling cover letter that complements
Building your résumé should be one of the easier parts to the whole job-interview process. But instead it’s becoming increasingly stressful as well!
The Damn Good Resume Guide: A Crash Course in Resume Writing
The Damn Good Resume Guide by Yana Parker is a classic book that has been helping job seekers create great resumes for over thirty years. The book provides practical advice on everything from formatting to content, with a focus on crafting a resume that tells a compelling story about your skills and experiences. Parker also provides guidance on how to tailor
For hundreds of thousands of job seekers, The Damn Good Resume Guide has been the go-to resource for writing and refining their resumes to damn near perfection. Filled with savvy advice and written in a straightforward, user-friendly style, The Damn Good Resume Guide will help you zero in on that dream job.
Resume Magic
Resume Magic by Susan Britton Whitcomb is an excellent resource for anyone looking to create a standout resume. The book offers practical tips and trade secrets from a professional resume writer, with a focus on crafting a resume that tells a compelling story about your skills and experiences. Highly recommended.
