TIPS FOR CREATING A EYE CATCHING RESUME

1. If you are just graduating, have fewer than five years of work experience or are contemplating a complete career change, a one-page resume will be long enough.

2. Two pages might be needed if you have more than five years experience and a track record of accomplishments.

3. A hiring manager or recruiter should be able to see your main credentials within 10-15 seconds.

4. Critical information should immediately attract attention.

5. You must effectively sell yourself on the top quarter of the first page.

• Resumes are typically skimmed during the first pass through, it is crucial to sell your credentials right away. Key points need to be prominently displayed at the top of the first page.
   

• An effective method is including a Career Summary Statement at the top of the first page. The remainder of the resume should back up the statements made in your summary.
   

• Your resume does not need to include every accomplishment – you only need enough to land the interview.
   

• Have someone else edit your resume with a critical eye.

• Avoid repeating information – focus on accomplishments. Don’t repeat job duties if you have performed them for more than one employer.
   

• Eliminate old experience – employers are most interested in what you did most recently. Your most recent experience should be first and then work backward from that. If you have a long career history, focus on the last 10 years. If there is a gap in your employment list dates and explain. Use month and year – not just years, employers and recruiters will quickly analyze how long you have been at each position and when only the year is listed it sends up a flag.
   

• Don’t include irrelevant information – don’t list hobbies or personal information. Only list volunteer work if it directly pertains to the position you are trying to land an interview for and only then if you are changing fields and the volunteer experience is in the new field i.e. – current career is within the computer field, you are switching to veterinary field – you have experience volunteering in humane society.
   

• Keep job duties/responsibilities list pared down. Create a paragraph that briefly highlights the scope of your responsibility and then provide a bulleted list of your most impressive accomplishments.
   

• Remove “references upon request” – this is an obvious statement. Delete it.
   

• Use a telegraphic writing style – delete personal pronouns and minimize the use of articles. Edit unnecessary words and phrases such as” responsible for” or “duties include” – the hiring manager will understand. Double check for spelling errors and then check again. Remember that spell checking will not catch a correctly spelled word used incorrectly i.e. “hear” for “here”. Have someone proof your resume.
   

• Customize your resume for your job target. Only include relevant information to reach your goal.
   

• Follow instructions listed in ad – “fax resume”; “send as an email attachment”; “send as a Microsoft Word document attachment to an email”. If salary/benefit information is requested, include it – using a range is acceptable.