How would you feel if you possessed a nicely polished resume that projects and elevates your level of professionalism? More confident? More positive? I bet!
Crafting a dynamic resume that is also a great selling tool is more time-consuming than 60 minutes. Yet, with the following quick and easy visual and marketing ‘styleover’ tips, you will begin to distinguish yourself from the job search mob in half an hour! That sounds good. Doesn’t it?
Tip 1: Check spacing and make sure your page margins are set to at least 0.7 all around. This will not only ensure that your resume is inviting with enough white space but that it meets universal printing standards (abating printing issues).
Tip 2: Bold your name and enlarge the font to 16 pt. or 18 pt. Also, centering your name is a great way to make immediate impact.
Tip 3: Separate your personal contact information with a bullet or divider, providing great visual appeal and easy email and phone number identification. Include your LinkedIn link so that employers can read recommendations.
Tip 4: Add your target Job Title to introduce your Summary or Profile instead of the more common labels such as “Qualifications Profile or Summary.” This will help you add a great resume keyword right at the top and will lend to your expert image/ brand.
Tip 5: Edit your Summary or Profile, ensuring sentences end quickly; combine ideas and try to limit this introductory paragraph to five to six lines. This will help create a nice crisp look and you will deliver your marketing message more clearly.
Tip 6: Go through the rest of your resume and remove all orphan words (words left on a line by themselves). This just causes an unorganized look and it really isn’t necessary.
Tip 7: Bold resume sections (Employment, Education, etc.) and enlarge the font size to 14 pt. This will nicely separate the areas of your resume and guide readers through.
Tip 8: Group job accountabilities together in a paragraph form, separating from achievements. Keep the number of sentences to no more than six. People lose interest when paragraphs are long-winded. Plus, long sentences and paragraphs makes it easier for your message to become convoluted.
Tip 9: Separate your achievements (how you actually performed and the results you generated) from the job description. Bullet them; no more than five to six bullets. Any more than that will look too busy and unwelcoming to the reader.
Tip 10: Ensure you have begun all bulleted sentences with action verbs.
Tip 11: Make sure all your bullets line up and match! Inconsistency screams sloppiness and conveys unprofessionalism. Use square bullets and get rid of those old round bullets! It is 2012, people! :-)
Tip 12: Eliminate any hobbies or personal information (picture, marital status, age, religious associations). These do not belong on your resume.
Tip 13: Read the entire resume aloud to catch awkward phrases end errors. As you read aloud, analyze if what you have just read is relevant to your new career target, if not–remove it! You want to target your new job title/role.
Tip 14: If you have created a second page that is at least one-third full. There is no excuse for a second page with just a few lines on it.
Tip 15: Remove the phrase References Available Upon Request; this is very antiquated and unnecessary. Sure, perhaps in the past, when locating wasn’t as easy as it is now with email, Google, mobile phones, etc.
Tip 16: For extra marketing power , add a nice snippet of a recommendation letter! Works like a charm.
Now, get to work! :-) Invest time in preparing a resume that you have polished, in turn, fortifying your professional image.
Can you list a few of your favorite resume-polishing tips?
Follow me on Twitter @resumeservice
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas
www.careersteering.com
writer@careersteering.com
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