How to Write a Resume - Getting to the Meat

Applying for a job may seem stressful, but if you go into it knowing fully what your resume says, you have a better chance of nailing that new job title. If you write a paper in school that you didn't take time to organize or review, you won't get as good a grade on it as you would have if you had cleaned it up. If you go up to present a PowerPoint to the class, but you never reviewed it and just stuck some random notes from random sites on there, aside from it being plagiarism from no citations, you won't have a clue what you are saying – and neither will anyone else. Confidence begins with a clean, organized resume you truly know, because you've thought about it and re-worked it numerous times. A person can tell if you've just slapped together snidbits of information about yourself and laid it before them.

So, now that you know some resume basics from last week's article, it's time to clear up a few more details before handing out that white beacon of hope.

Have Clear, Concise Wording – The Use of your English is more important than people realize for a resume. You use it for everything, including resumes. Three words stick out for the English portion of resumes: clear, short and professional. Getting to the meat of what you are trying to say is important. So, instead of wording a phrase like, “I have always been really good at communicating with others who I truly am” to try to sell yourself, the employer will most likely get tired of reading after “really.” There’s five words you have to drag your eyes through before you get down to the meat! And it is not professionally stated. Instead, that same phrase could cut to about half the size: “I effectively communicate my intentions to others.” Sound more confident? Sound professional? Sound short? Good! Let’s keep going.

The Fewer Words You Use, The Better – This will help with the next step. No need to add all those adjectives and pronouns, and definitely no paragraphs! Instead, make lists, bullets and one-liners. In this case, it is not necessary to really make a full sentence, but if you do choose to, at least keep it to one line. The employer should be able to skim through it and get everything he needs from it. He’s not looking to make sure you hyphenated that word or added the apostrophe at the end – although if that is needed in the short phrases you’ve provided, definitely put them. Make two words into one. Make a sentence into a phrase. Take out definitions and words that are unnecessary. If you can do without it and still get to the point you are trying to make, there is no need for the word.

1-Page Rule - Once you've gotten the most information you can get for where you've worked, your skills, your education, etc., it's almost time to narrow the scope based on the job you are applying for. But first, let's put ourselves in the shoes of the employer for a minute. If we were needing to find someone to work a certain job, and a hundred people sent in their resumes applying for it every day, those resumes better stick out or they get chunked. With all the other responsibilities we would have, looking at every detail in every resume would be low on our to-do list until we've picked the ones that stuck out. The fewer pages an employer has to fumble through will be more likely read. Some employers who really have this problem will throw out any resume longer than one page because they don't have time to read everyone's life story. They are looking for someone who gets to the point and quick!