Resume Writing Tips
1. Know the purpose of your resume
The objective of your resume is to land an interview, and the interview will land you the job (hopefully!). Don’t cover every detail of your career and end up with a long and boring resume.
2. Back up your qualities and strengths
Instead of creating a long list of all your qualities (e.g., disciplined, creative, problem solver), connect them with work experiences.
3. Make sure to use the right keywords
If your resume doesn’t have the relevant keywords to the job you are applying for, you won’t have the opportunity to meet with the client. Check the job description and related job ad for keywords.
4. Use effective titles
Employers will usually make a judgment on your resume in 5 seconds. It is therefore important that titles are relevant to the advertised position (if former title was obscure, ensure that you include descriptive title in brackets).
5. Proofread it twice
It would be difficult to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume, twice.
6. Use bullet points
Use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives as prospective hirers will not have the time to read long paragraphs of text.
7. Reverse chronological order
Most recent career history should appear at the start of your resume.
8. Attention to the typography
Ensure font is no smaller than 11 points and in either Arial or Times Roman. Do not use capital letters extensively as the goal is to communicate a message as fast and as clearly as possible.
9. Explain the benefits of your skills
Merely stating that you can do something will not catch the attention of the hirer. You need to explain how hiring you will benefit the company and connect to tangible results.
10. Avoid negativity
Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company.
11. Achievements instead of responsibilities
Don’t produce a long list of ‘responsibilities included’ but describe professional achievements, including numbers e.g. don’t just say you managed and delivered a project include project project budget.
12. No pictures
Unless requested, avoid attaching your photo to the resume.
13. One resume for each employer
One of the most common mistakes that people make is to create a standard resume and send it to all the job openings. It is important to tailor your resume and cover letter to each application, by referring to the Job Description or Job Advertisement.
14. Avoid age discrimination
Do not list age and under ‘Recent Career History’ provide details of the past 8 years, maximum.
15. You don’t need to list all your work experiences
Only provide details of roles relevant to the current requirement.
16. Project yourself
Remember that you are trying to market yourself. All the marketing efforts that you put in your resume (content, design, delivery method and so on) will give you an advantage over the other candidates.
17. Factual, please
Even small lies or exaggerations should be avoided, as if you are caught out, it will ruin your credibility.
18. Ask someone else to review your resume
It is a good idea to get a second opinion, as being the author, you can overlook mistakes or way of reasoning.
19. Maximum three pages
The acceptable maximum for a resume is 3 pages. Remember, provided all the necessary information is there, the shorter your resume, the better.
20. Use action verbs
Use action verbs to clearly communicate your experience and achievements e.g. managed, coached, enforced and planned.
21. Update your resume regularly
Update your resume with recent and current roles but remember to keep the resume to a maximum of 3 pages but reducing or deleting details on ‘old’ roles.
22. Mention who you worked with
If you reported or worked with someone that is well known in your industry, mention it on the resume. If you reported to or worked directly with highly ranked executives, also add this to the resume.
23. No scattered information
Ensure that all the information works towards a unified image as employers like employees to have direction.
24. Make the design flow with white space
White space between the words, lines and paragraphs improves the legibility of your resume.
25. No fancy design details
Do not use tables, a coloured background, fancy fonts or images.
26. No pronouns
Resumes should not contain the pronouns “I” or “me”. As your resume is a document about your person, using these pronouns is redundant.
27. Don’t forget the basics
The first thing on your resume should be your name, in bold and a larger font than the rest of the text. Ensure contact details are clearly listed.