Resume Best Practices: Do’s and Don’ts for your Resume from a Seasoned Recruiter
Guest blog by Paula Kurtzman, Senior Technical Recruiter & Career Coach
For over the past 20 years I have spent my career reviewing resumes, interviewing, and placing candidates at various levels in their professional lives. Whether you are applying to an internship or a C-level position it is important to have a professional resume that best represents what you can offer to a potential employer. Your resume is a marketing tool which allows potential employers a snapshot view of who you are and what you can do for them. The goal is to attract attention to your resume with the end goal of getting a phone or video interview request.
So how does one prepare this very important document that will determine their future career?
I can offer many suggestions based on career level or industry but regardless its important to stick to the basics:
-Keep your resume to 2 -3 pages at most; entry -junior level candidates should be 1 page only.
-Highlight your key accomplishments.
-Ensure your present and past tenses are correct.
-Spell Check. Spell Check!
-Clean and easy to read is best/remove tables or unnecessary graphics.
-Keep the pictures for your LinkedIn profiles.
-Objectives are a thing of the past…make sure you have a Professional Overview.
-Highlight any certifications, contests, professional organizations.
-Spell out months and dates and if you graduated know what year 😉.
-No fancy fonts -Stick to Times New Roman or Calibri.
-If you are still using your AOL address go ahead and create a Gmail email.
-Include a Cover Letter only if it is requested.
It is key to have another set of eyes to review your resume so reach out to your Career Coach or a Colleague to give it a second look. I always suggest to my clients and candidates to have an updated resume so when your dream job comes along you will be prepared to further engage in the opportunity.