Resume Tips

Use bullet points and short sentences to describe you experiences, educational background, professional objectives, etc.

Tailor your resume and cover letter for each employer. Most people create a standard resume and send it out to all job openings, which can decrease the chances of landing an interview.

Be sure to include a Mr. or Ms. prefix if you have a gender neutral name.

Do not list your hobbies on your resume, unless you know they can possibly help your candidacy for the position.

List all your positions!! If you have worked in several different positions for the same company, list them.

Don’t forget to include a “job objective” on your resume. This helps the person reading the resume know what your goals are.

Make sure you explain as simply as possible any gaps in your employment history. For example if you took a few years off from working to go to school or to have a child, all you need to put is something like this… “2000 - 2002 Maternity leave”.

Fill your resume with sentences instead of just two word bullet points. Instead of just putting “Office Manager and Dr’s office”, give a description of what you did. For example you “Improved filing system that allowed the doctors to see patients in a timelier manner”.

Make sure you list any professional organization you are affiliated with. In addition, if you have done anything with those affiliations, such as held an office, list those as well.

You don’t need to have fancy paper or fonts on your resume to get noticed. It is about what information is listed on the paper, not what the paper looks like. However you need to use a font that is clear and easy to read. Stand-bys like Times New Roman and Arial work well.

Many people used to suggest that you keep your resume to one page if at all possible. This may no longer be the case. Sometimes, more pages may be necessary so that you may better explain all of your duties and functions at your previous employer(s). Just be sure that you only emphasize what is relevant for the type of job you are searching for. If you are a Certified Public Accountant with years of experience with Income Tax, potential employers probably will not care how many summers you spent working at McDonald's as a teenager.

Create content that sells! When describing what you did in previous jobs, go above and beyond in highlighting what you did, don't generalize.