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I reviewed close to 30 resumes and applications for a program of which I am a member (I’m keeping details obscured for the privacy of the applicants). I am currently sitting, waiting for my next interviewee to show up.
In reading those resumes, I have developed a list of 10 things I will be doing differently for my resume.
- Change your objective to fit the job! It is quite difficult to remain neutral on (much less become supportive of) an applicants application which stated their objective was to “Gain an Internship in the Financial Sector”. Real people have to read your resumes, make it as easy as possible.
- Delete “Operating Systems” if all you know is OSX and Vista. I simply do not care. Now, if you run your own home-brewed Linux distro, or even Open Solaris or Red Hat, that tells me something about you. For any job I am going to be applying for, saying I can use the world’s two most popular operating systems should be as irrelevant as saying I speak English clearly. It should be a given.
- Delete “Relevant Coursework” if it isn’t relevant
- Make skimming easy. Give me clear headings with short bullets. Keep the font around 12–reading resume after resume is hard on the eyes, and you want to make it easy to like you for a position.
- Delete “Software” if it isn’t relevant, which it absolutely is not if you are applying for a travel grant. The presence of this section was my litmus-test for determining whether an applicant had bothered to customize her resume for the application. Also, even if you are applying for an internship where the software is relevant, unless you know something more than Microsoft Word and Excel, do not tell me. I don’t care.
- Don’t say “references availible upon request”. Of course they are.
- Give me space for notes on your resume. Say I am reading your resume, and I see you worked at Stanford Libraries when you were an undergrad there. I want to write a note to myself–”See if she knows Rachel”–but can’t, because you filled every availible inch of your resume with text. Too bad for you.
- Keep your fonts simple. Times New Roman in bold, underlined and italics, with 1-3 sizes of font for different headers is fine. Unless you are a confident graphic designer, and sometimes even then, you show more class with simplicity than with decorative typesetting.
- Use numbers. “Quadrupled the number of client stories on website”, “Managed portfolio of over $100,000 in assets”, “Built social media presence which brought in over $1000 in 3 days, 3 months after internship completed”. These are much more powerful than banal paragraphs about your impact on ROI or contribution to a project. Give me numbers.
- Include locations of past jobs. Perhaps this is not necessary for all applications, but this is a small way of advertising your network. If you’ve worked in Washington DC, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Pittsburgh PA, your interviewer may know someone in those cities and feel connected to you.
Summary of 10 tiny tips to improve your resume:
Optimize for the job in front of you. Make it scannable. Advertise your network.
Keep up hope!
Inspirational Quote:
“Robert H. Schuller – “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
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Comments
11.11.09
Wow! Thanks so much for the useful and very practical advice. I now have my resume (latest version) open and I'm tweaking it.
11.11.09
#9 is really important, based on what my own resume coach taught me. You should always try to quantify your accomplishments. If you manage a community (like me) mention how many people are in that community. If you manage a team, tell us how many people were on that team.
Numbers will always make your accomplishments look more impressive on paper.
11.11.09
Just a few quick comments. First of all, I would have left software on to apply for your position because I have knowledge of quite a few platforms including CS4. While it might not be necessary for the main function of my job, who is to say that you aren't looking for someone who can also assist with light graphic design? Additionally, if I have experience with filemaker or another donor management system, wouldn't you want to know that? If I had missed out on the position for giving you information on my software competencies because you felt I hadn't customized my resumé, that would have been a shame. I always carefully customize my resumé and leave on as much pertinent information as possible.
Second, of course it's nice to have space to write notes on a resumé, but most of these college graduates have been taught (over and over) that a resumé should be no more than one page. The year I graduated, I received advice from a firm to go to two pages if I really had the experience and information to do so. I've had amazing success getting interviews (and the job) since, so I'd have to add to your advice that going to two pages might be better than cramming onto one. I will qualify that by saying that all my employment history was on the front.
Lastly, I know this is probably a really silly thing to say. But make sure you use proper grammar rules on your resumé and cover letter. In the US, in every single major style book, punctuation marks always, always go inside the quotations. I know some people have been taught that there is some sort of conditional rule, but there isn't. If you don't believe me check the guides. When I see this practice: "Don't say references available upon request". it literally makes me want to throw a cover letter and resumé in the trash. It is not acceptable to put the punctuation outside the quotes, which the author of this post unfortunately does in every single instance. It is completely grammatically incorrect unless you live in Great Britain. Don't believe me? Pick up any professionally published book or magazine from the United States and try to find punctuation outside the quotes. Your future boss may be similarly fussy about grammar and punctuation, so make sure you have a few people who are out there working in the field look over your work and give you comments. Even if you think you've been taught a certain way, if you're applying for a job where they use AP style, look it up in the AP style book. I also recommend Strunk and White. In fact, taking a look at all the major style books (APA, Chicago Style) wouldn't be a bad move. Grammar and ability to communicate effectively through the written word is very important.
I hope that last bit didn't make me sound nit picky, but it's a serious personal peeve.
Best of luck job applicants!
11.11.09
These are great tips actually. My husband has been struggling with finding something where his resume truly reflects his ability.
I will definitely put these to use.
11.23.10
These are much more powerful than banal paragraphs about your impact on ROI or contribution to a project. Give me numbers.jackey
11.25.10
These are great tips actually. My husband has been struggling with finding something where his resume truly reflects his ability. cash advance payday loan
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