Resume Tips

Will someone scanning this in 15 seconds have a positive reaction?
Recruitment agencies and personnel departments are forever whittling down bundles of 500 resumes to shortlists of ten or twelve candidates. The whittler is frequently bored, tired or very junior (and possibly all three). A clear, well-laid-out resume has an immediate advantage in these circumstances over scruffy and lengthy documents.

Does this resume stand up as a marketing document?
Your resume is selling you as a product. Remember what a resume is for. It is not a long list of your previous history.

What are my special features? How can I highlight them? How can I provide some proof of my claims?
Don't just sell yourself as a secretary if you really want to land a job which dozens of other candidates could be chasing. You need to find ways of focusing on your other attributes too - your technological or organisational skills.
However, your claims to be "well-organised and enthusiastic" will not be good enough for some recruiters who would prefer some proof. A good example might be: "having organised a department of 20 people and up to 15 meetings a week in my last job, I pay a great deal of attention to promptness, meeting deadlines and give a smooth support for the rest of the team..."

Which three people can I show this to for a variety of responses and constructive criticism?
You need a resume which can appeal to different pairs of eyes, rather than being perfect in the view of just one person (yourself). If your resume is going to be successful in getting you a job, it will probably be seen and sifted by several different people. Recruitment agencies, human resources departments and line managers will be reading it and looking for different qualities in it.

Is this an interesting document to read?
Resumes can make very dull reading if you looking at more than two or three (as most recruiters are when they are trying to fill a vacancy). Reduce the boredom potential for your readers by being concise and clear. Try to highlight your special features (see question 3) and give the occasional short description (see the next question).

Should I put in outside interests or not?
Views vary on whether you should do this. It is up to you. The disadvantage is that you could seem frivolous or that your interest in hockey could alienate you from the hockey-phobe who is going to interview you.
The advantage of listing them is that you can show what a well-rounded person you are. But if you do put them down, make them interesting. Instead of saying "reading" put something like "reading - mainly modern novels"; instead of putting "running" put "running - aiming to do a marathon in the spring".

What should I put in the cover letter rather than in the resume?
Sensitive issues such as your present salary and desired salary level are better off in the covering letter. If you are sending the resume by email, you'll want a covering note on the email just as though you were sending the resume by letter.

Several ingredients for a knock-out resume

• Make your resume reflect the job description if you are sending it in for a particular job. If the job description asked for five main qualities in the ideal candidate, make sure those five qualities are clearly there on the first page of your resume.

• Put your contact details on the first page - including email address and mobile phone. Many recruiters are under time pressure when compiling short lists for interview and will have a slight preference for candidates who make their tasks easier.

• Reflect the words used in the job description and job advertisement. If they talk about "personnel", use the word "personnel" rather than "human resources".

• Put down your highest level of qualification. And, unless you are just starting your career, you really don't need to put down your school.

• Highlight achievements, rather than listing everything you have done. You could say: "was a member of the top-billing sales team in the company" or "pioneered use of different kinds of technology for my department".

• Write a "personal profile" of yourself which is like an executive summary about you. You might say that you are "a degree-qualified researcher specialising in European and legal matters".

• Don't leave out useful skills. The fact that you can speak French and have a drivers licence are all worth putting down.

• Tailor each resume to the job you are applying for. If you are an insurance claims manager applying for two different posts - one for a large insurer and one for a niche player - you will want to produce two different resumes.
  The one for the big company will highlight your experience working for large businesses; the one for the niche player will show how you can transfer your skills to a smaller player, how you can work in small teams and how you are happy to muck in if there is pressure on time.

• Try to avoid leaving gaps in your resume. If you were unemployed for a few months, you can sometimes glide over this by showing your job history in years rather than months (sales assistant 1996-99; sales manager 1999 to the present).
  Or if you did some travelling while unemployed, you can actually confess to it. These days employers are more broad-minded about people who have had time out, but you do not want to raise unanswered questions in your resume that could make your interviewers feel uncomfortable or anxious about you.

• Make everything positive on your resume. Try to avoid saying that you were made redundant. A bald statement of that kind could look as if you still feel negatively about that event. Your resume should convey a sense of vitality and an image of you progressing smoothly and confidently through your career rather than having bumps.

How to make your resume stand out from the pile

You can print your resume on yellow paper or put a background image of yourself on an email resume - but there is the risk that your potential employers will see these efforts as gauche.

If you want your resume to stand out, you may be better off trying to make it look as professional as possible. Consider the following practical suggestions:

• Don't waste words. Instead of long, rambling sentences ("I was a sales manager with responsibility for a team of 15 people") make yourself sound and efficient with words ("sales manager running team of 15").
• Put your resume in an attractive layout. Anyone with a word processor can now produce beautiful documents with borders and different fonts and styles.
• Use good quality paper.
• Make your resume easy to photocopy - it could well be photocopied if you go through a recruitment agency or get put onto a shortlist.
• Put your name on each sheet of the resume. Sheets do get detached - so you do not want to lose half of your career and your references.
• Keep your resume on the short side. It could be two or possibly three sheets - but anything more will have you immediately classified as a windbag.
• Think carefully about emailed resumes. Many people send them as an attachment and forget to put in a covering note on the email as to why the person should read your resume at all. Some recipients will have trouble opening attachments - so you may want to put the resume in the main body of the email.
• Consider making links on your emailed resume. You could put in links if, for instance, you are a web designer and want to show sites you have designed. Or you could put in links to articles in the press which support your resume.