Simple Guidelines in Writing An Impressive Resume

As we have discussed in our previous posts, writing an effective resume is necessary to get noticed by the recruiters and hiring managers. Do your best and take time to review what you have written. Imagine yourself being the hiring manager. Here are more tips and and simple guidelines for a resume that will matter and will help you land a job.

Effective Titles:

Nursing:

• Before: Nurse
• After: RN -- 10+ Years of ER Experience 

Human Resources:

• Before: HR Professional
• After: HR Manager / SPHR / 10 Yrs. Exp.

Engineering:

• Before: Engineer
• After: Manufacturing Engineer -- Six Sigma

Typos and Grammatical Errors

Your resume needs to be grammatically perfect. If it isn't, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you. It will send a wrong signal to the hiring manager and will somehow be the end of your application.

Use Bullet Points 

Employers are busy and they do not have the time (or patience) to read long paragraphs of text. Make sure to use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives

Analyze Job Ads 

You will find plenty of useful information on job advertisements. Analyze not only the ad that you will be applying for, but also those from companies on the same industry or offering similar positions. You should be able to see what profile they are looking for and how the information should be presented.
 

Action Verbs

Avoid using phrases like "responsible for." Instead, use action verbs: "Resolved user concerns as part of an IT help desk serving 3,000 students and staff."

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Tips on Writing an Effective Resume

Writing a resume is not rocket science and all recruiters and hiring managers actually want to see the same thing on a good resume. Your resume is your self-marketing tool. It should effectively communicate your assets in writing to an employer. Writing an effective resume is an art, not science, so it should be tailored for the job you are applying. It should convince the recruiter/hiring manager to interview you based on the qualifications you have written. 

The following are some tips to help you write an effective resume. 

Things to remember when writing a resume:

• You don't have to really re-invent yourself with your resume, you just have to present your qualifications clearly and in a manner that draws the right kind of attention.
• There is no "right" template, so feel free to use your own for as long as it looks professional
• Resumes with two columns, multiple colors and fonts and fancy photos can be viewed as trying to overcompensate for lack of relevant experience. It is advisable to have a solid content.
• Think like a recruiter or hiring manager when you write your resume.
• Proofread it twice or even more

The basic ground rules:

• Use a basic but modern font: Helvetica, Arial, Calibri, Century Gothic or if you must, the classic Times New Roman
• Use a font size between 10 and 12. Names and main titles can be larger
• NEVER use Comic Sans... ever!
• Do not lie or put something you are not familiar with.

Some rules of thumb in writing a resume:

• 1 page is okay for recent college graduates
• 2-3 pages for experiences professionals
• 3 pages for those with over 15 years of experience
• 3+ for people who publish widely in journals like medical and academic professionals

Some facts about resume compiled by BeHiring:

• First applications are usually received 200 seconds after a job is posted online
• The average time spent looking at a CV is 5-7 seconds
• One spelling or grammar mistake and your CV will be thrown in the bin
•  There is about 88% rejection rate if you have a photo of yourself on your CV
• One in every three employers has rejected candidates based on what they found about the applicants online
• An average of 250 CVs (if posted on reliable job sites like Jobstreet, JobsDB, Naukri, Monster, Dice, etc) are received for each job posting
• About 68% of employers will find you on Facebook
• There is a 17% chance that your cover letter will be read so make it outstanding.
• Around 76% CV are ignored if your email address is unprofessional

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