Readers Respond: Resume Writing Tips

Responses: 20

By Alison Doyle, About.com Guide

Do you have a resume writing tip? Share your best tips for writing a resume that works. Share Your Tips

The most important thing about how your resume sounds, is that it reflects you and your personality. You want the employer to want YOU when he reads it; not who he thinks you are. The interview is sure to go better, and you should feel more relaxed knowing that YOU are the reason you are getting hired.
—Guest Grace Boshell

The tips relating to use of fonts in a resume was really helpful. Often people try to make their resume attractive and for this they use stylish fonts and styles. Hope new employees get benefit after reading your post.
—creativeye86

It's also not wise to use your zip code they could look up area you live in and judge you off your neighborhood.
—Guest Andrea07

Having a laundry list of too many skills can work against you. You need to make sure only to list the most relevant aspects of your work history to get noticed and remembered by employers. Resunate is a free web tool you may want to consider using to scan your resume against a job description, to figure out what's most relevant.
—Guest Monafro

When writing your objective, you will get the reader's attention if you insert your personal brand and customize the resume to the company you're sending it to. It's critical to answer the WII-FM question. For example: I am the indispensable manager every restaurant needs. My experience opening a restaurant and ensuring that all its systems operate properly will provide you immediate value. I am confident that I can help Moe, Larry and Curly's restaurant provide the best customer service.
—jackm1951

Do not bullet everything on your resume. Only bullet achievements, results, and things about which you are proud. Limit your description of duties. Most of the comments here are truly relevant. If you don't know how to do this, hire a professional - it's an investment in your future. If you are searching in the same field, it is tax deductible.
—Guest Doris Appelbaum

Customization of resume is an art that does not come easily to every jobseeker. Then there is a science of customization which converts a plain text resume into 8 graphs, online / automatically / instantly. If the main goal of a resume is to capture the attention of the recruiters and it's secondary goal is to motivate the recruiters to read it long enough to interpret the jobseeker's story, then you will appreciate what www.CustomizeResume.com can do for your career. To impress the recruiters, what you need is a graphical / visual / analytical presentation.
—Guest hemen parekh

I've seen cluttered resumes--too much information in too little space--and resumes that have information so spread out it looks like a rendition of the South Pacific Island chain! If you have solid work experience, educational experience, etc., edit your descriptions and experience examples. Make good use of "white space" between the text. Reduce spacing by changing spacing between lines and use appropriate--but not miniscule--font sizes, so that reading the resume is not a "jumblethon". And if you have limited paid work experience, include volunteer work, community work, etc., to support your employability. Strangely, people often forget to include those experiences! Use a slightly larger (NO MORE than 12.5 size font for the text body; 13.5 for the section headings) to give the appearance of "more from less". Make certain to balance the spacing between paragraphs. You don't want the Work Experience to be spaced at 10 pt, and your Education information to be spaced at 15 pt.
—Guest pmlevy

Some technical tips applicants may not be aware of but should be! Titled 7 tips to get your resume the attention it deserves. worth looking at http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=278#more-278
—caitrin732

1). Focus on your best attributes: 2). Forget the objective: instead, focus on a project, company initiative, or maybe on an expertise you possess. 3). Never send a resume without a cover letter.
—Guest www.shine.com

I have suggested my students to eliminate "Objective" from their resumes. In today's tight job market, very few employers can afford to think about "your" objectives; they want to fill the positions with the most qualified candidates. Hint number 2: Do not use word like "I" "my" or "our" anywhere in a resume. Resume is a third person document. Use them in cover letter and hopefully at the interview when you can convince the employer about "your" qualifications with "your" compelling stories. As a Job Service Outreach Librarian, I have been training as a Career Coach at our Career Center in Fresno County Library since 2002. I will send you my one page "Ingrediends for an Effective Resume" if any reader like to see. contact me at bernice.kao@fresnolibrary.org Do check it out for more job search information at our Library's Job & Career Service web site at www.fresnolibrary.org/jcs Bernice Kao
—Guest Bernice Kao

The tips you give here are very useful for write a effective resume for job. Samuel Peterson from Job Listing
—Guest Samuel Peterson

Don't use "me-too" language. Certain keywords needed, but be pithy -- meaningful in expressing your value.
—Guest Jacqui Poindexter

Think about your email address. Is it cutesy and just for you? It should sound professional, not something silly like TinkerbellLovesPan@sillymail.com.
—klq727

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Alison Doyle
Job Searching Guide

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