The Basics

This video is produced by Career TV(www.careertv.com) - Several major recruiters' prospectives on resumes)

Do not be afraid to write your resume.  It is just a document that identifies you and lists your professional and educational accomplishments.

The document should be truthful, neat and free of grammatical or spelling errors.  I suggest you write it using a combination of narrative style and bullet points.  Do not use fancy fonts.  Stick with Times New Roman or Arial, between 10 - 11 pt. pitch, black print.

Use good quality paper either white or ivory. TIP - black print on ivory is visually more appealing and easier to read.

Keep in mind that the recruiter only spends seconds reviewing resumes.  Your points should be clear and well composed.  I recommend that you follow this format:

Contact Header:

This should be centered at the top of the page and should contain your :

Your Name

Address

Telephone number (Cell, Home, Work)

Your email address (avoid "funny" emails)

Objective Statement:  This is great if you have little work experience.  Example - A position as an Information Technology Technician with a communications firm.

If you have more than a year of experience, you may want to replace the Objective Statement with a Summary of Accomplishments.  Use this area to inform your potential employer in narrative form of your skills, strengths and abilities.  What attributes do you posses that helped make your previous employers successful.  What will you "bring to the table" that will make the recruiter elect you for am interview. Example - Information Technician with an excellent record of timely project completion with detailed accuracy and profeciency using xyz platform. 

Education:

List you educational attainment in reverse Chronological order.  Include degree or diplomas.  Include degree type, major course of study, School name, City, State, Country.  Tip - Avoid graduation dates.  This will prevent the recruiter from making assessments of your age or current understanding of the field.

Work History:

Also in reverse chronlogical order.  List your employer, job title, dates, job duties - concise and clear bullet points that relate to the duties of the position you are applying for.  Additional duties not related to the position in question should only reflect your added value as a potential employee.  

Tip:  Do not leave gaps in time periods.  This will lead to recruiter speculation.  Explain why there is a gap in you employment history.  Example - took sabbatical to work on thesis.

Certifications:

In this section you will list your professional certifications; such as:  HRM, RN, CPA, PE, LPN etc....

Additional information:

Use this area to list:

• Computer skills - programs, software, platforms, servers, etc...
• Ability to type, transcribe operate special machinery
• Language proficiencies
  

Length:

Try to capture all this information on one page.  You have flexibilities in the use of margins.  If your work history requires more than one page then "so be it".

Final tip:

Since the advent of on-line application and resume submission as well as increase use of HR and ERP systems, make sure that key words are prevalent in your resume.  In a recent article in Forbes.com (How to Write a Killer Resume), Tara Weiss explains:

"Use Keywords, buzzwords to describe your accomplishments and roles.  Not all keywords are the same for all jobs.  Therefore examine five to ten of the job listings you are applying for and highlight repeated words.  Then sprinkle those words throughout your resume."

Avoid copying word for word from the job description for the position you are interested in when tying to establish your related experience.  Recruiters will view this as deceitful and your resume will loose credibility.

I hope this has helped dispell some of the mysteries of resume writing.  Please use the RESUME BUILDER on this site.  It will help you compose your resume.  Once completed you can print or copy your personal resume.  You may also save it in a word format for later use.

GOOD LUCK!  W.I.