Writing A Good Resume

Question

It's my first time making a professional resume. I need to know what components make a good resume in presenting to your "future boss"

Answer 1

I hate to disagree but if you write a resume or CV like Mark M describes about the only thing you will acomplish is adding paper to the recycle bin or landfill because that's where it will end-up.

There are lots of ways to write a resume but since this is your first professional one it's probably best to keep it simple.  Always have your name and contact information at the top.  You should include address, phone numbers, email address and possibly website. Also, in today's digital world it is best to take a critical look at any website, facebook page that you might have since there's a good chance that potential employers will take a look.  Purge your site of anything that employers might find questionable since many jobs have been lost due to pictures of drinking, partying, or questionable speech.  It may not seem fair but it's the way it is.

The style and look should be simple and professional - no oddball fonts, good white or off-white paper, no pictures or decorative things unless you are applying for a creative or art oriented job.

After the contact info you can put a sentence or two about you and the type of job you are seeeking.  Obviously, you want to tailor this to the particular job you're applying for.

This takes you to the body.  There are numerous ways to do this depending on your experience level.  Typically, most will start with their most previous employment and work backwards.  Include the company and dates you worked there.  When you list your previous employment, make sure that you don't just list the tasks but also talk about the skills and accomplishments.  Also, don't talk about he skills in an abstract way but use action.  An example would be instead of saying "a party was planned for 300 people" you could say "Coordinated a party for over 300 people including planning the menu, hiring of all contract workers, etc."

You should also include any volunteer or non-professional things that relate to the position. Anything that involves working with the public will always be good to include since it shows some interpersonal interaction which will apply to any job.

After that you can include your education followed by any awards, publications, professional organizations, etc. Last, you can include a statement about references available upon request and have them prepared on a separate sheet you can take to an interview.

Things that you DON'T want to include: marital status, religious affiliation, hobbies (unless it relates to the job) or a picture. None of these are important to a company and in some cases can cause problems.

If you're still looking for more info, the library or any bookstore will have many books showing all sorts of examples.  Also, you can usually find some decent examples on-line.  Lastly make absolutely sure that you don't have any typos, use slang or text-message abbreviations in your resume or cover letter since these are usually the kiss of death.  Good luck.

Answer 2

Besides setting all margins to 1", the most important criteria for setting up a professional resume besides relevant text, is "scanability." Here are some helpful tips:

1. Place just below your identification header [your hame, address, phone, email address] any Conditional Warning Statement such as "Confidential Resume,"Do Not Contact Current Employer," etc.

2. Always fill-in an Objectives category [just below the Conditional Warning Statement] and make sure that he Objective will contribute to the profitability of your future employer;

3. Select a mono-type font such as Helvetica, Arial, Courier or Times Roman; do not select any cursive handwriting styles which cannot scanned;

4. Keep font sizes within a range of 10 to 12 pts.;

5. Avoid styling text with a justified alignment, keep it flushed left;

6. Instead of using tabs to set up blocked text entries, generate a table and use the column and row settings accordingly;

7. Do not place an i.d. picture anywhere on the resume, this is a major taboo due to discrimination issues;

8. Do not place any graphic text [saved as .gifs] onto the resume since it may be overlooked during the scanning phase;

9. List at the very end of the resume your interests which should include travel experiences, language skills, social interactions such as golf, team sports, tennis, etc.

In conclusion, the above helpful hints were designed to allow ease of scanning of your resume into PDF which can then be text captured for seach purposes by your potential employer. If the original resume was created in Word, WordPerfect or Mac Appleworks, it can be Saved As a PDF file which then can be saved as an email attachment. Otherwise, you can simply use a scanner and scan a hard copy of the resume and then save as a PDF file.

Failure to conform the resume to appropriate fonts and styles as outlined above will result in rejection of the resume simply due to the inability of the scanning device to properly index relevant resume entries.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I would lke to start by saying this: give your resume a nice look, use only top quality paer, good printer, be conservative wit colours, use black for text and white for paper, don't use more than two styles 1 for heading and 1 for paragraphs, do however use Italic and bold for the facts and achievements.

When you mail your resume, don't fold it, don't stable the pages together, before you seal the envelope, make sure of two things are, your signature and a copy of your resume and also a copy of the letter if you sent one.

The simple C,V should be like this:

Name:

Address:

Date of birth:

Maritail status:

Education:

Employment:

Referees:

After you send or handed your resume to a prosspective employer, make a note and keep copies, after a week or so telephone the emplyer just to confirm that they have received it, don't leave anything to chance, the biggest mstake one can make in job hunting is not to follow up.

All the best of luck, lets us know if you need any further assistance,