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Write a Better Resume with these 3 Easy tips 2

There’s no shortage of articles teaching people how to write good resumes, and truthfully I wished I’d written this article because it somewhat addresses all the points that I felt were necessary. I don’t believe in writing content that has already been covered by someone else without contributing an extra idea or two, so here goes:

1. Tailor your Resume

photo credit: TheTruthAbout

This piece of advice was actually suggested to me by someone I bumped into at a job fair – but he told me to tailor my resume to whatever job I was going to. Similarly, another friend told me to create a second, more streamlined and slimmed down, version of my resume, which he felt would be appropriate for certain other jobs (“so you don’t seem overqualified”).

Either way, you get the point – a strategic approach would be to tailor your resume towards places you plan to apply to ahead of time – for example, if you’re planning to apply to a retail store, highlight your interest in fashion. Don’t be afraid to mention your previous experience in another retail store, and make sure you personally hand your resume in to the manager so that he/she can see your sense of style (thanks Nick).

Such minor observations and tweaks can make the difference between you and the next guy, so make sure you take every opportunity to tailor the resume towards where you’re applying.

2. Your Resume doesn’t have to be one page!

The general rule of resumes is to make it as short as possible and avoid the dreaded second page, but I’ve found it to be beneficial to go over the one-page limit sometimes. Firstly, the mindset of having a second page makes it easier to throw absolutely everything down on the resume. Keep in mind that this works well on a spill draft of the resume, but it would be wise to filter out much of the more important stuff (as my friend tells me, “No one gives a shit about which elementary school you graduated from.”).

Here’s the ‘checklist’ as found in the Simple Dollar article previously linked to:

Name/address/phone/email
Summary of Qualifications
Work Experience (unless this is your first “real” job)
Professional Organizations (unless these are slim, then eliminate or move to end)
Honors (unless these are slim, then eliminate or move to end)
Education
A note indicating that references are available upon request

I found that my “Summary of Qualifications” and “Work Experience” (I also included a few volunteering experiences) already took up my first page, and I figured it wouldn’t necessarily be wise to skim down my experiences. One idea would be to cut down on the number of points per experience, another would be to simply extract the unnecessary ones.

photo credit: HowardLake

Under recommendations from a friend (thanks Dhruv), I threw in an Awards section to bring up the awards I’ve received in competitions (such as DECA) or other certifications that I’d earned previously.

Lastly, I mentioned this briefly: my Interests section used to have things closest to my heart – from random stuff like philosophy to music. It sounds silly, but I really wanted to personalize my resume. I got hit by the stone cold truth by the job fair guy: the employers don’t care about your interests unless it has something to do with them! Chances are if you talk about irrelevant interests, you’ll be diluting your qualifications and good points with unimportant interests and your resume will end up in the recycling bin. Sure, you can share interests with your coworkers and managers…after you get the job.

3. Highlights of Qualifications/Summary of Qualifications

Employers scan resumes, and the peak of their interest will probably be at the beginning of your resume. Make sure you highlight your strongest points by creating a Highlights of Qualifications/Summary of Qualifications section, where you bring out your most important skills.

For example, one entry on my resume is:

Adaptability: able to understand situations, adapt accordingly, and obtain new skills

Although the grammar isn’t the greatest, it’s straightforward and concise, perfect for a quick scan. I recommend bringing up 4-5 of these entries in your Highlights of Qualifications section, and don’t be modest! If you’ve got something you really want to shine, then make it beautiful.

Icing on the cake…

photo credit: yumyumbubblegum

That’s just my two cents – the web is overflowing with information on resumes, so here are a bunch more for you to peruse at your own leisure.

Remember, the resume is the key to the interview, which is the key to the job. Don’t cheap out on effort when it comes to the resume. Enjoy!