Common Tips & Tricks To Sharpen Your Resume

Quick Reference

Typefaces
Keep it simple. Stick to standard sans-serif computer fonts such as Arial. Font 10-12 point size is ideal. Do not try to impress anyone with special fonts as those are often hard to read and jarring.
Design
Keep it plain. Many managers have a pile of resumes on their desk and will trash your resume if they think its “odd”. Don't use devices such as columns, boxes, ornate lines, symbols or pictures.
Format
Format your resume using clear capitalized headings such as EXPERIENCE and EDUCATION. And try to leave lots of white space between sections.
Key Words
For online recruitment you will need to have a key word rich resume. This helps speed up the resume search and selection process. As you prepare your resume for submission, use key words that might be selected by a search engine. Here are examples of some key words: BA, MBA, programmer, computer science, analyst, manager and designations such as CFA, PFP, IFIC or CSC.

Network, Network, Network!

You need to treat yourself as the newest thing on the block that everybody wants. When you start looking for a job you should first call all your friends and relatives and see if they don’t know about any job openings.

Then, you need to send your resume to as many companies as you can afford, call them, find out who the hiring manager is, and mail him or her a personalized resume.

After that, go to the temp agencies. The industry trend is for companies to turn to agencies, so some jobs never make it to the external job boards at all.

In other words, utilize all available resources, and don’t forget the job boards! Register with the big ones such as Monster and Careerbuilder.

Keep It Simple, Make It Count!

I go through hundred of resumes everyday, and there is nothing worse then a convoluted short story.

Keep your resume simple, to the point, and technical. A manager will not be scared by technical language, but an overly general resume will end up in the shredder.

Example of Some Common Mistakes Made On a Resume

Here is what not to do. You would be surprised how many resumes commit some very basic mistakes, and while this is a greatly oversimplified version, some common themes run through it.

Candidate
Objective
I want to attain a position in a great company where I can be creative and do honest work.
Experience
Company ABC, New Town, Mexico Aug 2002 - Present

Work sheetmetal fabrication

Follow blue prints and instructions

Drive foklift

African Siberian Trust, Mainard, CA Sep. 1996 - May 2000
Machinist

Machined

Followed safety rules

Education
Pretoria High School 1985

So What’s wrong with this resume? Lets break it down:

Objective: the very first thing the hiring manager sees is your objective. If you tell them that you want to find a company with room for advancement where you can work honestly, your resume is going straight for the shredder.

What should you do? Write a clean crisp summary of your key technical abilities that are relevant to the job.

Spelling: Make sure every single word of your resume is spelled correctly. This is a an absolute must.

Content: If you only have a few things to say about your last job, it looks as though you didn’t do very much. Even if this is the case, think of something to say, anything and everything to beef up your resume with those keywords that your future boss may be looking for in your resume.

Be Consistent! If you Have one title make sure your resume looks the same all the way through.

Time Gaps: Even a small time gap can ruin your candidacy. Avoid time gaps and fill them in as best as you can.

No Objective!

If I am applying to a recruiting agency to be a recruiter, the hiring manager already knows that. No need to doubt his intelligence!

Do you really want to keep the objective? Then call it a Summary or a Skill Summary and blast off a short keyword filled sentence or two with the most relevant experience for the job.

Example:

Looking for a position in the company with room to advance.

or

RF technician with experience working with digital and analog equipment

There is a HUGE difference between a vague, boring, and obvious statement and a highly focused one liner that jumps right at the manager.

Be Technical!

Please be technical! If you are in IT don’t tell me how much you reduced costs, tell me what kind of network you set up and how many desktop personnel you managed.

List your technical knowledge. Managers want to see keywords such as Unix Redhat, DHCP, TCP/IP, Excel, Lotus Notes, RF, Prototrak, CNC, etc.

If you think that just because you’ve worked in a machine shop the manager will know every tool you have worked with, guess again.

Different Job, Different Resume

Sometimes laying your whole life out for the manager to see may not be the best idea. You are sabotaging your chances.

Adjust your resume for every job you apply to and do so in a focused fashion that concentrates on the skills you will need for your new position.

If you are applying for a chem. tech and have no experience, forget that summer burger king job , instead remember the chem. lab and all the instruments and put that on your resume. Everything else is just a distraction and raises questions...

The Hook and the Talking Points

Your resume is a hook to catch you that dream job, but that hook is nothing unless you can reel in the big one.

Use your resume as the talking points, don’t write an essay on the resume, give them just enough to be interested in speaking with you and when the manager asks you “ What did you do there?” instead of the horribly lame reply, “It’s on my resume” You tell him why you are the best at what you do and how you will make him look good.

Entry Level Resume Building

Just because you are out of high school and have no job experience doesn’t mean you’re doomed. Think of all the clubs you were a part of or the sports you played. Team sports have a way of developing strong leadership skills.

The Resume Killer - Unemployment Gaps

Six months, salvageable. One year, difficult. Eighteen months, very difficult.

In other words, if you have to swallow your pride and take a pay cut it will probably save your career. Unemployment can have some very nasty side effects.