Resume Best Practices

With the job market being flooded with candidates, both qualified and unqualified, now is the best time to proofread your resume and make sure it gives you the best opportunity at attaining an interview to prove yourself.

Here are some common best practices for resume writing and an example of a resume to help get you going!

Overlooked Best Practices:

• Make sure all fonts on your resume match. You want your resumes to look as clean as possible and flow articulately. A constant switch in fonts, sizes, colors, etc. becomes an annoyance to the reader and is just one more reason for the hiring manager to place your resume to the side. (Note: Often times, an exception to this rule are resumes for creative positions, i.e. Graphic Artist, Marketing Professionals, etc.)

• Make sure any bullet points you have all line up through the entirety of the resume.
• Include all contact information, but most importantly your email, physical address, and phone numbers that you can be reached at by at recruiter or hiring manager.
• Include months, in addition to years, in your experience. You will want to have an accurate representation of your experience. 2005-2008 could be as little as two years and a month or as long as four years. It helps to explain fully your years and level of experience.
• Your summary should accurately reflect your experience as it relates to the requirements of the position. Objectives are typically no longer necessary on resumes as a summary broken down into bullet points will provide that information.
• Be sure to include all educational and certification credentials you possess.

A Well Formatted Resume Outline:

NAME
Address
Phone numbers and email

SUMMARY

• Details in bullet points describing experience as it relates to the job requirements and responsibilities

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS
Degree attained, School #1
Degree attained, School #2
Certification #1
Certification #2

TECHNICAL SKILLS/ADDITIONAL SKILLS
(as necessary depending on your career and experience, see example of tech skills below)
OS: OS1, OS2, OS3
Software: Software1, software2
Languages: language1, language2, language3

EXPERIENCE
Name of company #1
Dates of employment
Title
Project or company description

• Responsibilities in bullet format

Environment/Technologies: (typically for technical resumes)

Name of company #2
Dates of employment
Title
Project or company description

• Responsibilities in bullet format

Environment/Technologies: (typically for technical resumes)