Guide to Giving your Resume a Makeover
Are you not having the results you had expected from your career search? Whether you are aware of it or not, the problem could be related to your resume. Fortunately, it is quite easy to give your resume a makeover in order to improve your chances of landing the job you are really after.
Begin by taking a long, hard look at your resume. If it was not your resume, would you still be interested in reading it? What does it say about you and your professionalism as well as your experience and skills? Do you see a vast number of typos, run-on sentences and mistakes?
By taking these few small steps, you can transform your resume into a professional document that you will be proud to submit.
First, always make sure that you spell check your resume, both the old-fashioned way as well as with the built-in spell checker on your word processing program. Even one misspelled word can be all it takes for your resume to hit the slush pile. Avoid that risk by taking the time to really proofread your resume. Keep in mind that spell check programs do not catch every error. The only way to do that is to make sure that you have proofread it before you turn it in. If spelling is not your forte, consider asking someone who is a good speller to look over your resume for you.
Make sure your resume is in reverse chronological order. This is one of the more common mistakes made by many people when embarking on their career search and writing a resume. Your most recent job should be listed first, along with dates of employment.
Be sure that the language you use in your resume is simplified. Avoid sentences that are lengthy. Stay away from personal pronouns such as ‘I’, ‘my’ and ‘me.’ It is a given that you are the one who performed the actions mentioned in your resume. Make sure that you are using active verbs and avoid passive language for the most impact. Focus your resume on accomplishments rather than tasks.
Eliminate the clutter from your resume to ensure it is consistent and easy to read. Important headlines should be underlined, bolded or italicized but do not overdo it by using all three. Choose one and stick with it.
Do not be afraid of using a bulleted list; this helps to draw the interviewer’s eyes to the most important and relevant elements of your resume.
Use a standard fond such as New Roman or Arial and steer away from fancy fonts that may be difficult to read.
Finally, make sure that you read your resume aloud before you submit it in order to catch anything that may sound awkward or may just need some improvement.