How to Fix Up Your Resume (guest post)
In a job market like this, it’s not surprising that one open position can receive many, many resumes. Often, your resume might have just a few seconds to make an impression. And that can be difference between getting in your foot in the door or getting that door getting slammed in your face.
Here are a variety of ways to make your resume better:
- Formatting – When used appropriately, bullets and bolding make a huge difference. The perspective employer isn’t going read one long paragraph. You may have noticed that this article is written with scannability in mind.
- Grammar and spell check – Microsoft Word provides a very good grammar checking tool. Spell checking tools are so abundant that there’s no excuse for not using one. In such a competitive landscape, one spelling error could get you labeled as lacking attention to detail.
- Consistent tense and use of phrasing – This is one that a lot of people miss – and the one I have the most difficulty with, myself. Sometimes I don’t know whether to put older jobs in the past tense and current jobs in the present. That’s where it helps to have experts like those at Pongo Resume to help. Always stick either full-sentences or fragments. Switching back and forth between the two will only confuse the reader.
- Have more than one friend review it – Sometimes you spend so much time on you certain parts of your resume that you miss the obvious. Your friends will be looking with a fresh eye, just as a potential employer would.
Even if you have great form to your resume, there’s no guarantee to you’ll get the job. Experience, education, and the interview process are very important – the key is to make sure you don’t get passed by before you get show off those skills.
How To Fix covers a wide-ranging set of topics including household repairs such as how to fix a toilet and How to Fix a Lamp as well as computer topics like how to speed up your computer.
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8 Responses to “How to Fix Up Your Resume (guest post)”
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You do mean “prospective” employer, not “perspective” employer in your first bullet, right?
(That would be pertinent to your second bullet point, would it not?)
Hi Steve! And thanks for the plug for Pongo! If I may add one important point about resume structure: You want to grab the hiring manager's attention within the first 15-20 seconds, as you note in the first paragraph. So, make sure your “Professional Summary” or “Summary of Qualifications” clearly communicates the value you offer an employer. Then, make sure your experience backs up your summary.
@MM: Yepo, you're right. I am apparently not destined for greatness in the proofreading/editing field…
I buried in mediocre tasks, and rarely seeing the light of day. While this grim illustration is not exactly the case (or I was simply fortunate…
Yahoo mi fece un eccellente lavoro di riassunzione per categorie con ottimizzazione in cornice. Potrei rivederla? E come?
It's shocking to see the amount of spelling mistakes on resumes these days especially those applying for co-op positions from highschool and college. Best advice, get someone else to read it over before submitting.
Mike
It's shocking to see the amount of spelling mistakes on resumes these days especially those applying for co-op positions from highschool and college. Best advice, get someone else to read it over before submitting.
Mike
Yep, its a good article, it gives us tips to write a correct resume format. You have pointed out common mistakes made by people while making resumes. Your site will help them to prevent those mistakes. Nice tips really.