Resume templates

Below are 40 tips that you can refer if you want to write a good resume:

1. Make a connection between your qualities and strengths

It is said to be a great idea if you can link all your qualities, say: strictly following the rules, being creative and excellent at solving problems, with your real working experiences. This means, instead of composing a long list of qualities that seem to exaggerate you, you should combine what you can done and practically you have realized your abilities.

2. Using right keywords is of great importance

Nowadays, the HR staff of most companies have used digital database in order to look for candidates’ information. In other words, there may have some arising wonders and they HR department will solve these thanks to search for certain keywords. So, you are assumed to be knocked out of the game before it really starts if your resume has no related words to the job descriptions.

3. Appropriate titles or headings with the job should be used

In many companies, recruiters have to read a lot of resumes sent to them, so that they have only 5 seconds for each, and then be sure that your resume catches their attention. One of a best choice for this case is to add related titles or headings with the job ads. Have a look at the way Roger used bullets in his two below resumes.

4. Design the resume in an expressive way.

As said, employers just have little time to review your resume, thus, if they find it has no relations to their post requirements in terms of skills or qualifications, they may think you are not the best choice for the job. What is more, employers actually do not have sufficient time to go through all the content included in the resume to give a decision whether you hold such qualifications they are expecting.

5. Understand what your resume aims at

Some people think that the resume is aimed at being granted a job. This results in their adding as much as information into the resume and making it become so wordy. Remember that you resume is made to offer you an interview, after that, the interview may, hopefully, grant you the job.

6. Use attractive titles

It is a fact that employers draw the comments on your resume just in 5 seconds only. Within this time, your titles will be the most attractive to them, so make sure that they are beautifully and inviting. Make such titles be as descriptive as possible, through this, employers can have good revaluation on what you did in your previous posts.

7. Create good Content to market yourself

Making a good design of the resume is vital; however, how to create a good resume content seems to be the most important because it will consists of your skills and abilities, that determine how many interviews you generate–as well as the level of salary offers you receive. Compare the before and after statements from Roger’s resume shown below:

8. Have someone else review your resume.

Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.

9. Submit your resume to potential employers.

Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you.

10. Quantify and Use Power Words

As Roger’s after statement demonstrates, using numbers to describe your achievements and responsibilities can greatly expand and elevate your image. Using numbers and quantifying creates vivid images in our mind when we read them, whereas general statements like the before examples are easy to skip over or forget. Typically the more specific you can be in describing your duties the better.

11. Analyze Ads and Job Descriptions to Identify Key Words

Learning how to analyze the key words that employers provide in help wanted ads and job descriptions is a key element in creating powerful resumes. For example, read the ad Roger found for an Accounts Receivable Manager below and see how many key words, phrases, or skill descriptions that it includes.

12. Explain the benefits of your skills

Merely stating that you can do something will not catch the attention of the employer. If you manage to explain how it will benefit his company, and to connect it to tangible results, then you will greatly improve your chances.

13. Avoid negativity

Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company.

14. Achievements instead of responsibilities

Resumes that include a long list of “responsibilities included…” are plain boring, and not efficient in selling yourself. Instead of listing responsibilities, therefore, describe your professional achievements.

15. Identify and Solve Employer’s Hidden Needs

In addition to the skills or needs listed in the ad shown above, the employer will have many more needs that Roger should identify and address in his resume and cover letter. For example, this employer will need someone who can deal effectively with other departments, research accounting issues and records to solve problems. To beat today’s heavy competition for jobs, it’s important that you identify and anticipate the full range of needs each employer faces and show how you can solve those needs.

16. Sell the Benefits of Your Skills

Most resumes provide a list of duties that each applicant has been responsible for–without explaining the benefit of those skills to employers. For example, a secretary’s resume might state she can type 80 wpm and is extremely accurate. This statement lacks an explanation of how her typing speed and accuracy benefit an employer’s bottom line.

17. Identify the problems of the employer

A good starting point to tailor your resume for a specific employer is to identify what possible problems he might have at hand. Try to understand the market of the company you are applying for a job, and identify what kind of difficulties they might be going through. After that illustrate on your resume how you and your skills would help to solve those problems.

18. Avoid age discrimination

It is illegal to discriminate people because of their age, but some employers do these considerations nonetheless. Why risk the trouble? Unless specifically requested, do not include your age on your resume.

19. You don’t need to list all your work experiences

If you have job experiences that you are not proud of, or that are not relevant to the current opportunity, you should just omit them. Mentioning that you used to sell hamburgers when you were 17 is probably not going to help you land that executive position.

20. Create An Image That Matches The Salary You Want

As you write your resume, keep in mind the level of job and salary you want. Be sure to create an image that presents you at the appropriate level. For example, language used in a resume for an $8 an hour position is much different than the language used for a $16 an hour position. I recently met Lynn, who had held a Health Insurance Claims Management position making $42,000 per year. She had retrained for the accounting field and hadn’t yet gained any “direct accounting experience” although she had prepared monthly accounting reports as a Department Manager.

21. Lead with your strengths.

Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.

22. Play Match Game.

Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.

23. Use buzzwords

If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use “competitive analysis.” For accounting types, use “reconciled accounts.”

24. Prioritize the Content of Your Resume

Another big mistake that job seekers make is to list very important data in the lower sections of their job descriptions. As you compile statements for your resume, prioritize them by importance, impressiveness and relevance to the job you want. Remember that a strong statement which uses power words and quantifies will affect every statement under it. Read the two examples below. Which one has the most impact?

25. Keep the salary in mind

The image you will create with your resume must match the salary and responsibility level that you are aiming for.

26. Get someone else to review your resume

Even if you think you resume is looking kinky, it would be a good idea to get a second and third opinion about it. We usually become blind to our own mistakes or way of reasoning, so another people will be in a good position to evaluate the overall quality of your resume and make appropriate suggestions.

27. Tweak and Target Your Resumes and Cover Letters

You will generate many more interviews by tweaking your resume and cover letter so that they address the specific skills each employer requests. For example, Sally originally wanted a customer service position, then found an ad for a Retail Management opening. How well qualified do the headings in the left hand column present her for the Retail Management position? Do you think the headings in the right hand column will generate more and better interviews for Retail Management positions?

28. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume.

Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull’s-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.

29. Think of your resume as a marketing tool.

Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.

30. Update your resume regularly

It is a good idea to update your resume on a regular basis. Add all the new information that you think is relevant, as well as courses, training programs and other academic qualifications that you might receive along the way. This is the best way to keep track of everything and to make sure that you will not end up sending an obsolete document to the employer.

31. Mention who you worked with

If you have reported or worked with someone that is well known in your industry, it could be a good idea to mention it on the resume. The same thing applies to presidents and CEOs. If you reported to or worked directly with highly ranked executives, add it to the resume.

32. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job.

You don’t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.

33. Use bulleted sentences.

In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.

34. Make the design flow with white space

Do not jam your resume with text. Sure we said that you should make your resume as short and concise as possible, but that refers to the overall amount of information and not to how much text you can pack in a single sheet of paper. White space between the words, lines and paragraphs can improve the legibility of your resume.

35. Lists all your positions

If you have worked a long time for the same company (over 10 years) it could be a good idea to list all the different positions and roles that you had during this time separately. You probably had different responsibilities and developed different skills on each role, so the employer will like to know it.

36. Use action words.

Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.

37. Use #’s, $’s and %’s.

Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples:

• Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.
• Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory.

38. Accent the positive.

Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.

39. Create an email proof formatting

It is very likely that you will end up sending your resume via email to most companies. Apart from having a Word document ready to go as an attachment, you should also have a text version of your resume that does not look disfigured in the body of the email or in online forms. Attachments might get blocked by spam filters, and many people just prefer having the resume on the body of the email itself.

40. Remove your older work experiences

If you have been working for 20 years or more, there is no need to have 2 pages of your resume listing all your work experiences, starting with the job at the local coffee shop at the age of 17! Most experts agree that the last 15 years of your career are enough.

Related docs to resume templates

• 8 different samples of resume