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12 Valuable Resume Tips for Success
A resume says a lot about a person. It is a reflection of major life decisions that you have made. A good resume should clearly show a progression that begins with a definitive starting point and continues to develop over time as a “living document." It should paint a picture that flows chronologically and clearly shows career progression from each phase of one’s career. Oxford Solutions over the past 10 years has had the benefit of viewing and reading literally thousands of resumes, and as a result have formulated the following tips that are designed to help you develop a resume that will help generate interest and interviews.
1. Always use a chronological (company names, titles and dates) format rather than a functional format (paragraphs of achievements) – prospective employers look for longevity and career progression.
2. Use clear and crisp bullet points as opposed to long sentences or paragraphs to summarize what you have done at each position. Longer periods of employment may have 5-7 bullet points, whereas, a 1 year assignment may be summarized with 2 bullet points.
3. Listing “Utilized EXCEL for 3 years” under the company as a bullet point adds much more credibility than listed at the bottom of a resume.
4. When writing the body of your experience, think in terms of transferability – how the knowledge, skills, and experience that you gained can be transferred to future employers.
5. Unless you just graduated, your schooling should take a backseat to your work experience.
6. Be careful with personal email id’s on the document if they are playful or misleading, ex: “foxxyhotchick@aol.com”, “deathmaster5000@yahoo.com”, etc.
7. Make sure that your name and contact information is correctly spelled, and that the information is current. Be aware if you have recently moved to make sure and update address, telephone number or email address accordingly.
8. Make sure that all company names are spelled correctly, and that there are no typographical errors on the document.
9. Do not excessively use acronyms – “BPR”, “ROI”, etc., and when using them, spell out what they stand for when first used. For example, “Expertise includes Business Process Reengineering (“BPR”), as well as Project Management skills.”
10. Be careful including ethnic, political or religious affiliations, unless in some way they support the position you are trying for.
11. Be careful including hobbies on the resume – some can create the wrong idea and leave much to the imagination – for example, if you are interviewing for a job in banking, listing “gambling” as a hobby may cause concern…
12. Make sure to highlight any and all technology skills you may possess, even if it is using proprietary technology tools. Many people take it for granted or forget to list these skills. Employers always want to know what tools you can use.
A resume says a lot about a person. It is a reflection of major life decisions that you have made. A good resume should clearly show a progression that begins with a definitive starting point and continues to develop over time as a “living document." It should paint a picture that flows chronologically and clearly shows career progression from each phase of one’s career. Oxford Solutions over the past 10 years has had the benefit of viewing and reading literally thousands of resumes, and as a result have formulated the following tips that are designed to help you develop a resume that will help generate interest and interviews.
1. Always use a chronological (company names, titles and dates) format rather than a functional format (paragraphs of achievements) – prospective employers look for longevity and career progression.
2. Use clear and crisp bullet points as opposed to long sentences or paragraphs to summarize what you have done at each position. Longer periods of employment may have 5-7 bullet points, whereas, a 1 year assignment may be summarized with 2 bullet points.
3. Listing “Utilized EXCEL for 3 years” under the company as a bullet point adds much more credibility than listed at the bottom of a resume.
4. When writing the body of your experience, think in terms of transferability – how the knowledge, skills, and experience that you gained can be transferred to future employers.
5. Unless you just graduated, your schooling should take a backseat to your work experience.
6. Be careful with personal email id’s on the document if they are playful or misleading, ex: “foxxyhotchick@aol.com”, “deathmaster5000@yahoo.com”, etc.
7. Make sure that your name and contact information is correctly spelled, and that the information is current. Be aware if you have recently moved to make sure and update address, telephone number or email address accordingly.
8. Make sure that all company names are spelled correctly, and that there are no typographical errors on the document.
9. Do not excessively use acronyms – “BPR”, “ROI”, etc., and when using them, spell out what they stand for when first used. For example, “Expertise includes Business Process Reengineering (“BPR”), as well as Project Management skills.”
10. Be careful including ethnic, political or religious affiliations, unless in some way they support the position you are trying for.
11. Be careful including hobbies on the resume – some can create the wrong idea and leave much to the imagination – for example, if you are interviewing for a job in banking, listing “gambling” as a hobby may cause concern…
12. Make sure to highlight any and all technology skills you may possess, even if it is using proprietary technology tools. Many people take it for granted or forget to list these skills. Employers always want to know what tools you can use.
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F 412-348-2261
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