1. Resume Writing Your resume needs to be extremely effective and appealing in order to stand out from the crowd: Guidelines to Follow

2. Guidelines  Use verbs that indicate action and continued growth e.g. achieved, enriched, demonstrated etc.  Use adjectives such as creative, motivated, enthusiastic etc.  Spell out words in full. For example, use street instead of st.  Avoid using the word “I” if possible.  Include enough relevant information to clearly demonstrate your skills and abilities without being wordy.

3. Guidelines(Con’t)  Present yourself in a positive way.  Emphasize how your past experiences will benefit other employees.  Ensure there are no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.  Create a page with a professional, “clean” appearance.  Avoid highlighting, underlining, and italics as they are distracting.  Make sure that your address and phone number is clear and prominently placed.

4. Employer’s Pet Peeves About Resumes  More than two pages long  Colored paper  Handwritten corrections  Old jobs that do not mean anything  Repetition  Attempts to inflate responsibilities  Fancy graphics, unless the person is applying for a graphics position  Poor quality paper  A photocopy of a photocopy  Insufficient information included to contact former employers.

5. Resume Checklist  Is the resume clear? Does it provide a “picture” of the writer’s qualifications?  Is all personal information relevant to the job?  Is all the necessary information included?  Does the resume include positive self-evaluation?  Is the language clear and understandable?  Does the resume emphasize benefits for a potential employer.  Does the resume make the reader want to continue to read it?

6. Resume Checklist(Con’t)  Is the layout appealing? Do strong points stand out?  Do the sentences begin with action words?  Is the resume brief, to the point and neat?  Is the length appropriate?  Is the resume free of spelling and grammatical errors?  If you were a potential employer, would you grant an interview based on this resume?