9 Guidelines for Your Resume

Keeping your resume updated is vital in today's competitive work environment. When you create a winning resume, you get more interviews and have more opportunities to show off why you're the right person for the job. Take a look at these resume tips to get your document into top shape.

1. Focus on Results

As you prepare your resume, don't just list your job titles. Instead, focus on your achievements. Did you boost your department's sales numbers? Were you promoted rapidly because of your savvy and successes? What did you accomplish in each role?

2. Keep the Look of Your Resume Simple

You don't need a fancy font or elaborate design — although you get some leeway on this resume tip if you're applying for a job as a creative. Keep everything easy to read.

3. Write in Active Voice

Back in the day, resume tips told job seekers to use passive voice when talking about themselves. These days, that advice is rather out of date. Speak about yourself in first person active voice, and look for strong verbs, such as "managed" or "created," to describe your accomplishments, avoiding weak verbs like "assisted" or "participated."

4. Think About the Hiring Company's Needs

Most job seekers think about their own needs when they apply for jobs and head into interviews. "What does it pay? What are the benefits?" Instead, present yourself as a solution to the employer's problem. If that means rewriting your resume, do it.

5. Proofread

If you have even a single misspelling or typo in your resume, many hiring managers are likely to stop reading it immediately. Have a competent friend review it, even after you've spell-checked it yourself and even if you were an English major.

6. Customize Your Resume

One size no longer fits all when it comes to resumes. Pull keywords from the job description, and rewrite your resume to include them.

7. Keep It to One Page

Yes, one page. Are you applying for a C-suite position or creating a CV for an academic job? Then you have some leeway. Otherwise, stick to this resume tip: one page.

8. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

You don't need multiple email addresses or phone numbers on your resume. You don't need a photo, either. Don't provide any material that might distract from what really matters.

9. Submit Your Resume the Way the Employer Wants It

All the resume tips in the world aren't likely to help if you don't pay attention to the hiring company's instructions. If they want your resume uploaded to a certain site, sign up for the site and send it that way. If they want it attached to an email, that's how you send it.

Even in the digital age, your resume is the calling card that makes hiring managers sit up and pay attention to you. If you follow these resume tips, you put yourself in good shape to present a winning resume to your prospective employers.

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