Targeted. Employers want to know exactly what you can do for them. Whenever possible, target each resume to each job. Vague and general resumes that cover many possible job options will not get noticed. While you may qualify for several different positions, it’s better to create a different resume for each job and incorporate only the information pertinent to that job description. This will alleviate the tendency to crowd your resume with too much non-related information.

Consistent. This is important when sending a paper version of your resume to employers. The look of your resume should be eye catching, not distracting. Be consistent with spacing and margins, allow for lots of white space and borders, and emphasize your important points with font and text styles such as italics, capitals, underlining, boldface, indentation, and bullets.

Well Written. Descriptive action verbs—such as established, implemented, created, and streamlined—add power to your sentences. It is crucial to start each sentence with an action verb (refer to the list of action verbs in this toolkit).

Concise. Employers scan resumes and decide in less than 30 seconds if they want to look more closely at what you offer. Edit with care and delete information that isn’t relevant. If you are submitting a paper version, one-page resumes work best.

Summarized Qualifications. This is one of the most important parts of your resume. The “Job Objective” or “Summary of Qualifications” section powerfully illustrates your top selling points. Most job seekers exclude this information, but this is an ideal way to get noticed—fast.

Self-Promoting. Make sure to show your accomplishments, skills, and abilities. Employers want to see proof that you can do the job. Be sure to demonstrate the results of your experience and how others benefited from these results. You can effectively achieve this by including evidence of your productivity by noting any cost or time savings, and mentioning innovations, changes, or actions that show you produced results.

Accurate. List your skills, qualifications, and experiences in as positive a manner as possible—but do not exaggerate or misstate the truth. Be sure your job responsibilities are adequately described by your job title, and indicate the true level of your abilities. Exaggerating your skills will not do you any good!

Abbreviation Free. Avoid abbreviated words on your resume. It looks sloppy and many abbreviations are not universally accepted.

No personal stuff. Including any personal data, such as age or height, is seen as unprofessional. Employers must be careful not to violate any discrimination laws, and most organizations prefer that you don’t include it.

Grammatically Correct. Do not trust your computer’s spell check. Read every word and have someone else read your resume as well. This is the single most important thing you can do once you have written your resume. Mistakes of any kind are extremely annoying to employers and also the fastest way to get your resume into the rejection pile. Spelling mistakes and typos suggest the poor quality of work they can expect from you.

Good Paper. If you are submitting a paper version of your resume, use a computer and print it on a laser printer to give it a sharp, professional look. Conservative white, off white, light tan, or light gray are generally acceptable colors. The darker the color, the more difficult it is to read. Dark or creative colors are acceptable only for artistic resumes, particularly for candidates in graphic design areas. In this case, the resume becomes a vehicle for illustrating the candidate’s talent. Never send out a resume that is obviously a
photocopy.

By CESER, the Center for Employment Education and Research