Resume Writing - Update yours
Time to Edit that important piece of paper
When was the last time you really read your Resume? Time to update and edit it again!
Resume Writing – no matter how much advice you seek; no matter how appropriate that advice given is; without a proper Resume and Cover letter, your Career will stay static. You need to spend quality time on your Resume – always reading and re-reading it, tweaking it to suit the ad or company you are applying to, and always editing it. This week we’ll concentrate on placement and look of information.
Your first thought to your Resume must be the placement of the information – too much information and the eye gets tired and confused; too little information and it will look as if you don’t have the qualifications required – both conditions mean your Resume ends up in the “discard pile”. Ensure you have at least an inch for each of the side margins – this is where notes are often written by the interviewer or the first sorter of your received Resume – no room means more time must be taken to find room to write those notes – and if a sorter has to take time on that task, chances are, with literally hundreds of applications to sort through – that time will NOT be taken, and again, your Resume is put to the “discard pile”.
Don’t forget to pick a font and size that’s easy on the eyes – not yours, but the potential reader’s! Try to remember that most people over thirty often are starting to get eye strain and reduced eye muscle control (sorry folks, fact of life) – and it’s these folks that are probably sorting and interviewing you. Try to use a 12 size for most of the info, and use 14 size for titles. What, too much information? Use an 11 then – this will give you an extra few lines but can hardly be noticed as different from the 12.
Font is also important. The fun fonts are just that – fun. These fonts tend to look cute for about one or two lines – a whole Resume of them tends to be hard on the eyes and takes away from the importance of your Resume. Try to stay with a sans-serif. Huh? Don’t understand? Don’t panic! Fonts are basically two shapes – Serif (with a tail, or fancy) and Sans Serif (without a tail).
Check out the image attached to this article for an example of fonts - Times New Roman is an example of Serif (fancy); Arial is an example of Sans Serif.
The Serif styles are usually used in legal documents, and give a document a more “professional” look. But again, this font is often hard on the eyes, whereas the Sans Serif styles are cleaner looking (less fancy) and easier to read for long periods of time, or for long documents.
Break up the information with Titles – for example, have a separate section for Skills. This also allows you to showcase your talents, and not just hope the reader is able to figure out those talents from your experience.
More on Resume Writing and Cover Letters in the following weeks.
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Copyright January 25, 2007. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.
