Resume Do's and Don'ts
Resumes can be tricky, especially when you're only supposed to be taking up 2 pages maximum to talk about yourself and your accomplishements. You can make the most of your resume by following this guide to do's and don'ts on a resume.
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Do. Keep it simple. The layout of your resume should involve a lot of white space and strategically placed bullets to emphasize points and to separate your information. Make good use of your ability to make paragraphs which will help the employer sort through your information with much more clarity of organization. |
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Don't. Go beyond two pages. Even though you may have a ton of information you want to get out, more than two pages long and your reader gets bored. You should never have a resume that is a page in a half, as it just looks like left over information and can and should be condensed into the first page. |
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Do.Include as much contact information as
possible This means keeping at least your name and email address on every page, even if it means over-exposing how to reach you. You want to look as available and flexible as possible and the less steps it takes your employer to discover your number to call you back with a job offer the better! |
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Don't. Use personal pronouns. Your resume should look as professional as possible, so you shouldn't be addressing yourself using me or I and definitely not WE. The employer wants to know what you did, so if you'd like to say you worked with others. Lead with an action verb such as Collaborated with a team of 20 to launch new product. This looks a lot more professional, as well shows you took leadership within a group setting. |
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Do. Avoid saying "worked at". This not only is vague, but it doesn't seem very sharp. The verbs you use should paint a picture of what your tasks were and what you did at that particular job or project. |
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Don't. Include experiences that don't have any
relation to the job you're applying for. In many cases, you want to show your employer that you have experience within the industry of type of business you're applying for. So if you can, try to stick away from including information from a job that you hated, or a job that you don't want to do anything like in the future. Since you don't want to make relations to an activities you have no preference in working at again. |
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Do. Think and write in
accomplishments. Your employer is interested in seeing what you've succeeded at in your last jobs. Make sure to quantify things in numbers to emphasize and detail the scale of your success. |
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Don't. Include references to start. The best thing to do is to say "References available upon request". Because this is another step to getting a job, in most cases references can be brought up at a later stage. Plus, references on your resume would take up a lot of space on your pages. If you really need to conserve space, leave the phrase out, it is assumed that you will provide them if asked. |
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Do. Proof-read! Nothing is worse than a resume with typos, grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. This only looks unprofessional, sloppy and that you don't take the time to look over your work. Have a couple people look over your draft to help make it look smoother and read easier. |
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Do. Emphasize your transferable
skills. This shows the employer what you have learned from your past experiences and what you can lend to your new job. Also, transferable skills are something that develop overtime and by pointing them out, you can show your employer what you plan on strengthening and improving. Plus, this gives a good idea of whether you truly understand the requirements of the job. |
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