I've really been focusing on my own resume lately. Along with my own, I have been asked by multiple people to redo theirs or give them pointers. And what I realized the past few weeks is that most people really don't know how to write a resume, what to put in it, or how to order it. I'm writing to share my wisdom and hopefully help out a few people on their journey to finding a job. Here are my main rules for the most basic form of a resume:
1. Length
It should not be more than 1 page. Unless you're a 50-year-old with extensive job history, there is no need to make it more than a page. It is meant to provide a quick summary of your experience and life so far, so future employers can get the basic gist of who you are. Also, if you're in college and you are no longer a freshman, take out anything from high school. That was a completely different time and most employers will not care about it at all.
2. Order
I always say that the order should be as follows: Contact Information at the very top, Education, Work Experience, Volunteer/other activities, and then Skills. It is important for it to be in this order, or in a similar order, because this is the way job seekers want to learn about you. They first want to know your level of education. Your schooling most likely relates to your work experience, so writing about your work experience makes sense to put next.
You can also choose to lump volunteer and other activities in with your work experience as a whole section called "Experience" or whatever you choose to call it. Also, yes, you should have skills on your resume. Even if your only skill is that you are able to use Microsoft Office, future employers want to see this.
3. Format
You can easily make it one page by changing the margins. Don't do less than .5-.75" margins, but doing exactly .75" margins will make your resume look more put together in general. Also, be sure to have spacing with items that are not similar to each other. This will help if an employer looks at it quickly, so items on your resume stand out from one another.
You should also have some sort of change in format from headings, job titles, job duties, etc. This can be as simple as bolding the titles or putting a section in italics to differentiate the two. This can also be done by using two different fonts, one for the headings and one for the body paragraphs.
4. Bullets
Use bullets. This will make it simpler to read and overall more visually appealing, especially when it comes to listing your job duties. If you are having to include different levels, like job duties under position name, choose different bullets for each level. When it comes to a new level, a different bullet with a different size font will show that it is a little less important overall.
You don't have to focus on your resume being extremely visually appealing, as long as you have these four items done in a logical fashion. If you want more tips, Google is a great resource and will give you tips that relate directly to your field and what employers are looking for.
