Tips for Writing a Resume

Here are 10 tips for writing a resume.

1. Make a list of every place you’ve worked. Include 1-2 sentences about the company – include things like the industry, revenue size, employee base. Include dates of employment and the various positions you’ve held. For each position, write a short (2-3 sentence) description of your responsibilities.

2. Make a list of your most significant accomplishments in every job you’ve had. If you’ve got a lot of experience, limit this list to your last 4-5 jobs. Do not make judgments. Just make a list. You can pick and choose what to include as you put your document together.

3. Use strong action verbs to describe your accomplishments. You can find strong action verbs in the right hand column of many pages in the Resume section on Top-Sales-Jobs. Words like initiated, created, directed, led, and implemented are much better than words like coordinated, helped, assisted, participated in and “served as a liaison…”.

4. List your post high school academic experience, starting with your highest degree. Do not include dates. Include professional training only if it is significant (e.g. Six Sigma).

5. List professional or trade associations you’re active in. If you’ve held an officer level position in a professional association, list it, even if you aren’t currently active.

6. Write a Summary Statement for the beginning of your resume, rather than an objective. Write this section after you have done 1-5 above. Once you’ve compiled 1-5, you should have some good ideas for how to summarize your experience and key strengths. For complete instructions on how to put a Summary Statement together, click here.

7. Choose a chronological resume format. Hiring managers and recruiters prefer this format.

8. Limit your resume to 2 pages. This rule applies even if you have a significant amount of experience. Your early career experience can be summarized, listing only company name, dates of employment and titles held.

9. Pay attention to aesthetics. Leave some white space so that your resume is readable. Break up the content with partial lines, varied font (bold, italics) and captioned sections. If your resume is two pages, include your name at the top of Page 2.

10. Proofread your final document. The fastest way to be screened out is to have mistakes in your resume.