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Your Resume

Your resume introduces you to potential employers. Do you want to learn more about the art of resume making?

Tips for Creating Your Resume
Types of Resumes
Useful Links

Resume Tips

There are proven techniques you can use to make your resume stand out from the crowd. Here are some tips to use when writing your resume:

Tip 1

Don’t prepare a resume more than two pages in length unless you are an executive or manager and have been in the workforce for a while. The purpose of a resume is to get the interview, not the job. Think of a resume as being a brochure about you and offer your best selling points and save everything else for the job interview.

Tip 2

Now that you’re the president of the company, that job you had flipping burgers 25 years ago is irrelevant and should be omitted from your resume. Most employers are only interested in what you’ve been up to the last 10 or 15 years. Use common sense when deciding how much work history to offer.

Tip 3

Never omit dates of employment in an attempt to hide your age or cover up an unstable work history. The reader knows instantly you’re trying to hide something. However, you can leave off jobs held for a very short duration or omit the earliest part of their work history.

Tip 4

Never mention anything about salary or give a reason for a job termination on your resume unless you are applying to the federal government. These topics should be left for the job interview.

Tip 5

Avoid unsubstantiated claims and overused clichés. For example, too many people state they have “excellent communication skills”, but very few people offer any information on their resume to back up this claim.

Tip 6

The reader of your resume is familiar with what a person in your field does on a daily basis, therefore, avoid long detailed job descriptions offering your daily routine at your current job. Instead, offer a brief summary of your job and focus on your achievements and skills.

Tip 7

Leave off the ubiquitous “references available upon request” at the bottom of your resume. Both employers and recruiters consider this phrase to be rather silly since everyone is expected to provide references.

Tip 8

If your resume gets you job interviews; don’t change a thing about it, even if it violates common rules of resume writing.

Types of Resumes

There are 3 types of resumes that you can use in accordance to your experience and the type of position for which you are applying.

Chronological Resume

This is the traditional style of resume. Its main focus is on your prior work experiences, which are listed in a reverse chronological order. When using this style of resume, we suggest that you stress your skills through the description of your job duties. If you have a solid work history, this is a great type of resume to use. If your work history is sporadic, or not very long, you may wish to choose one of the other styles.

Functional Resume

The functional resume focuses on the type of skills you have and groups your experiences under different skill categories. Under each of these headings you list your experiences that support your strengths in that area This resume is a great style for someone who has a sporadic work history but has developed many useful skills throughout their volunteer experiences in the past. The largest downfall to this style is that many employers do not appreciate its function and would prefer to see exactly where you have attained jobs and for who, how long, and where.

Combination Resume

This style combines features of both the chronological and the functional resumes. In this type of resume you list your employment in reverse chronological order of employment, but the emphasis is on the job titles and places, and not necessarily dates. Also included in this style of resume is a skills section found after your work and educational experiences. Highlight your attained skills. The skills section is usually most effective when bolded and related to skills that will single you out from your competition for the job you are seeking.

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