Writing Your Resume

A bad resume can keep you from getting the right job but a good resume can be your ticket into the job of your dreams. After all, the resume is one of the first examples of your work that the employer sees. So here are a few tips that'll help you create the perfect resume:

Stress Your Strengths

Do you have a particular trait that you think sets you apart from other candidates? Maybe you've attended a top business school and graduated at the top of your class. If that's the case, you'd want to put more emphasis on your education. Or perhaps you've done so-so in college but have excelled in a number of internships. Then maybe you would want to stress your work experience.

By displaying your strengths, you're giving the interviewer the chance to see that you'd be a great employee for them. But this doesn't mean you should leave out other sections of the resume if you don't feel you excel in those too. Always include everything, such as work experience...even if you don't have any.

Make it Neat

Always do your job resume on a computer and make sure that the layout is easy to read and it's printed on nice paper without any wrinkles or stray marks. In fact, I suggest you go to your local Staples or OfficeMax and pick up some paper specifically for resumes. It'll make your resume seem more professional.

Some people with a lot of creativity create really elaborate layouts for their resume. These might look great but they can confuse the interviewer so try to keep things simple. Perhaps if you were going for a graphics design position, this would be acceptable.

Keep it Reasonably Short

It can be tempting to put all of your accomplishments into your resume in an attempt to show off. However, the general rule is that your resume should fit on one sheet of paper so keep that in mind. If you have a lot of very important accomplishments or work experience, you could possibly use two pages but try not to overdo it.

Always Include Your Contact Information

Nothing could be worse than to do an interview and then have the interviewer not be able to call you back to inform you that you have the job because they don't have your phone number, e-mail address, or home address. Always include this kind of information at the header of your resume.

If you really don't know what to include in your resume, here's a few sections that are typically in resumes: contact information, career goals, education, work experience (reverse chronological order), and other accomplishments. Just remember to keep things neat and simple and you should do fine.

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