What's wrong with my Resume - no one is calling back!
Do you find you are not getting any call backs from dropping off your Resume? Overwhelmed with having to create or update your Resume? Not sure why, but this week I have been inundated with requests for Resume writing help. While I will refer you to my other articles on Resume Writing, this week we'll concentrate on some quick tips.
I do suggest you take the time though to check out these other articles -
First of all, I cannot emphasize this enough - proofread, proofread, proofread! Have you used the correct word (ie there instead of possessive their), are there any spelling or typo errors? DO NOT just rely on good 'ole Spellchecker (see Blog and discussion on Spellchecker last week). Read your Resume (or ANYTHING you want to ensure is perfect) OUT LOUD. Most people have an inherent sense of grammar when it comes to speaking (in a native tongue) - so use it to your advantage. As soon as you read out loud, you will find any mistakes you might have missed in just using the eyes to read.
How is your format - this includes how it looks on paper - does the eye strain to read the information? Is it unbalanced - meaning too much on one side - BUT remember to still leave a wide enough space down one side for the potential employer to write notes in. I do suggest to have the white space on the left side. This means you can use Headers (name of an area such as EMPLOYMENT) in the left side, but have all information for the Header inset by at least a measurement of .25 to .5 inch. Remember - you probably already have an inch or so margin all around your paper (hint - you SHOULD do this), so an extra .25 is just to ensure you have that space - and no, you do not need to add the extra space if using a one inch margin on both the left and right sides of the paper.
Do you have all information lined up neatly? Using Chronological format - you MUST ensure you set the information almost in columns. Remember, the person initially reading your Resume is also reading hundreds of other Resumes - so if yours is hard to read - guess where it ends up?
And most important - ensure the information is correct! More on that next week.
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Copyright October 10, 2006. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.
