Resumes

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Working on your resume may not seem necessarily easy when you don't have to do it often. Sometimes it's not easy to just copy what someone else has done and fill in your own information. What if you have more to offer than what you think you can write? What do you do when you have a lot less experience than the resume you're working from? Or a lot more? When starting your resume, remember a couple of core points:


Format, format, format: Make sure your resume is easy to read. Line up your data to make sure it's simplistic and easy to find. Make sure the dates, positions and companies you've worked for all are listed the same way. It shows your potential employer that you took the time to make sure they know what you've done, and it's easy to read. Never make the employer have to repeatedly look around to see how long you worked at your last job. If the resume's too hard to read, there's always someone else's.


Keep the details short and sweet: You don't need to give long explanations to say you answered the phones and dealt with angry customers. Make sure you're quick and to the point. When shortening your job descriptions, keep on going through the individual tasks you performed until you know you can't take another word out. The employer needs to understand what you're saying and what you did, of course. You just don't need to write a paragraph to say so. A line or two is fine.


Use traditional font: Unless you're a graphic artist, art designer or another artistic-type, stay away from fancy font and multi-colored text. You want your resume to be simplistic. The body of work and your potential should speak for itself. Noone's going to be impressed because you spent extra time finding the right shade of blue. Be sure to stick with an oft-used font, such as Times New Roman or Arial. No need to go fancy. Interviews represent you better; resumes can go far, of course but nothing can gaurantee you the job like that interview.


You don't need to include every job: Heading your way to a specific part in your career? Looking for a new job? Alter your resume to highlight the jobs that gear you towards your specified goal. If your first job was twenty years ago and has nothing to do with what you're doing now, you don't need to include it. If you're highlighted as a bartender while working as an account and now want to work your way up to a corporate accounting position, you don't need to list your bartending history and skills.


*Note: constantly review, revise and edit your resume. If your gut instinct is telling you you don't need something, delete it. If you can't see why something is relevant, then it isn't. You also can't predict what every single employer is looking for. It is essential to list the most important aspects of your past jobs, but it isn't essential to list why you got employee of the month. It'll just look nice that you won the honor. Of course, you should know your grammar and your spelling. Feel like you need help? E-mail Heather at heather@heatherchadwick.net. Heather is vastly experienced at editing, formating and creating resumes for job seekers. No need to go into the job market blindly. E-mail her today!