Your resume is the key to opening the doors opportunity. In it’s simplest form, your resume is an advertisement of your capabilities and potential to an employer. I have seen thousands of resumes over the years and that includes a range from excellent to a waste of paper. Here are some brief points for a resume in the age of e-mail.
1. Limit your resume to 2 pages
2. Use a font size of 10 or 12 using either Arial (font size 10 or 11) or Times New Roman (12pt)
3. Because more resumes are being captured by specialized HR software, you must make sure your resume can be electronically imported properly.
- Do Not Use Text Boxes.
- Your heading should include your Name on line 1, Address line 2, City, State, Zip Code on line 3, Home Phone on line 4, Business Phone on line 5, and E-Mail on line 6.
- Never send out a resume without all of your contact info including home e-mail address and a daytime phone number on the resume, and not just in your e-mail. If your email and phone are not on your resume, Do Not expect to be contacted at all.
Example:
Bob Langieri
12400 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Newport Beach, CA 92636
Home: (949)496-8400
Mobile: (949)240-0400
(note: use personal e-mail not your company e-mail)
4. Include a Summary of Experience paragraph.
5. Briefly list Accomplishments (in a bullet list). Objective is “old School”
6. List Hardware and Software
7. List Employment History – Most recent first, include month and year (include the last 15 – 20 years depending on how many jobs you have had). Give the most information about current and recent jobs and minimal details about jobs more than 10-15 years ago. I recommend going back 15 years and then add a statement: Prior experience includes working with RPG400 in manufacturing, retail and distribution applications. Details upon request.
8. List Education last – Degree, Technical Training, Certifications, classes
9. Avoid using graphics like Microsoft Certified as they cannot be read by resume search engines
10. Avoid using special formatting functions as in Word ( Headings, boxes, columns). Many of the automated resume programs used by human resource departments cannot not read these features without experiencing serious errors.
11. E-mail your resume as an attachment only. (do not send as a PDF. Only Word documents can be imported by automation tools).
12. Do not fax your resume unless there is no e-mail address.
13. Spell check – spell check and spell check again!
14. Test that your attachment is received okay by sending it to a friend. This is also good to help proof read your resume.