A resume is ultimately a positive, visual presentation of your unique mix of talents, skills, and experiences. A good resume is a critical part of a successful job search.
Market Yourself — resume is not your life story. It is a marketing tool that expertly summarizes key accomplishments illustrating your qualifications for a particular job. Make sure the information you provide relates to the position you are seeking. If you are bilingual, note it!
Make it About YOU — It is not just about past jobs! It's about YOU, and how you performed and what you accomplished in those past jobs, especially those accomplishments that are most relevant to the work you want to do next. A good resume predicts how you might perform in the position you desire.
Adapt Your Talents to the Job — like snowflakes, no two resumes you send out should be exactly the same. Each should fulfill what a particular ad or company is looking for. Create a master resume file, cut and paste those skills or accomplishments that best meet the requirements of a specific job. Avoid using templates.
Use Action Words — action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences/phrases that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented (refer to page 21).
Be the Object of their Desire — your chances of being considered will improve if you are clear about the job you seek. Be sure to include a specific job objective. Avoid vague objectives like “seek challenging position with an enlightened firm.” Think outside of the box.
It Pays to Be Perfect — 45% of executives said they put resumes at the bottom of the pile with even one typo. Another 31% discarded resumes with two typos. That means sloppy candidates, no matter how qualified, only have a one-in-four chance of being considered.
Personal Qualities — When organizations hire, they seek employees with the personal skills and attributes to successfully interact with others in the workplace, and complete assignments well and on time. Only include personal qualities that you can give examples of at an interview and/or those you possess that pertain specifically to the position.
Your name and contact information: This section includes your name, complete mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address. You should have only one e-mail address and phone number listed. Employers just want to know how to contact you. Create a letterhead with this information that can be used on other pieces and correspondence in your portfolio.
Objective: Your objective should be contained in one or two concise phrases and should be as targeted as possible. This informs the potential employer of:
The position you are applying for
The industry you would like to work in and/or
The skills which you have to offer or would like them to focus on
Skills section: Highlight strengths you have that are not obvious in other
areas of your resume. These might include language(s), computer skills, and/or special tools/technology used.
Experience section:
Experience should be listed in the order of most recent first. You can list volunteer experience or unpaid work experience (ROP) in addition to your paid work experience.
For each experience you should list: your position title, name of group or organization, the location (City, State) and, dates of employment (month and year from start to end.)
Include descriptive lines of short statements that describe what you did and what skills you used, learned, or developed. Also, list any special equipment or technology you have been trained in/are proficient in use.
Additional sections: Other section headings might include: Leadership
Activities, Community Service, Memberships (student clubs or organizations), Professional Affiliations, and/or Special Activities, Honors or Certifications.
Education section: Place your most recent education first. If your GPA is 3.0 or above, you probably will want to include it.
References: Your references should be included at the bottom of your
resume, but preferably on a second page. Make sure your heading (name,
address, phone, and E-mail) is at the top of the page.
Be prepared to post, upload, or e-mail your resume.
It can be a challenge to determine exactly what information to include in your resume and what to omit. So, choosing the correct resume format is very important. Resume templates and resume builders are both great options to assist you in the process. But sometimes you just need to see some top resume examples.
Not all resume formats are created equal. There are three types of resume formats: chronological, functional and hybrid. Each format serves a different purpose and highlights certain parts of your career history. Be sure to do your research before deciding on a format and find resume examples that match the format you’re looking for.
Customer Service Resume Example