Having the “perfect resume” is an essential part of your career. Whether you are seeking a position, enrolling in a school, or applying for a competitive position, it is important to have a resume ready to present to employers at all times. It can be challenging to make yourself stand out in a pool of hundreds or even thousands. Here are a few tips I have learned over the past few years that have helped me improve my own resume:
Create Your Own Template
Be creative and create your own headers… just don’t go too crazy on the colors.
Use Appropriate Fonts and Sizes
Although you may get carried away when you’re first creating your resume, make sure to still keep it professional. Don’t use crazy fonts like Comic Sans, but rather stick to more “professional” fonts. Make sure to use black colored ink as well. When it comes to the sizes, do not go under 9.5 or exceed 12. Make sure your name is in a larger font than the rest of the resume.
Spell Out All Abbreviations
This one’s pretty self-explanatory but be sure to spell out street names, initials in a name, school names, etc.. For example, if you use the acronym UIC, your resume would say “The University of Illinois at Chicago.”
Use Four Subcategories
When presenting yourself, write out the information under these four categories (in order): Education, Job Experience, Skills, Accomplishments/ Awards/Volunteer Work.
Do Not List “Soft Skills”
When describing your skills under the “skills” category, don’t list your soft skills. Soft skills include descriptors like “hard worker” or “responsible”. You could include these through your job experience when you explain what your responsibilities are/were at work. List your “hard skills” because that is what employers are really looking for. Some important hard skills include communication, using Microsoft Office, and editing.
Limit Your Resume’s Length
Make sure you only give employers a single page of your resume. Remember, they only spend a few minutes or even a few seconds reading your resume. One page is the standard length for a resume… keep it short and simple.
Tailor Your Resume to Match the Position
If you’re running out of room to meet the one-page maximum, cut some stuff out. In some cases, you’ll need to only include certain accomplishments that relate to the job position you are taking. For example, there is no need to include your soccer awards in a resume that is submitted for a developmental editor position.