Before you land your dream job, you first need to write a resume to wow your potential employers. A resume is basically an advertisement of you and your experience. It has the one expressed purpose of winning you an interview. Therefore, if your resume fails to do even that then it’s not effective enough. So what exactly is an effective resume? How does one write an effective resume?
An effective resume is one that gets you an interview. Most people think that resumes get jobs. However, resumes are not shortcuts to getting jobs. Effective resumes land you an interview and good interviews land you a job.
The following tips explain how to write an effective resume.
Know Your Resume’s Purpose
Don’t make the mistake of listing all your experiences and achievements starting from middle school up through college or present employment. Doing this will make your resume long, boring, and superfluous. Employers do not want to read through a resume with nothing specific to offer. List only relevant and necessary qualifications. You should back up your qualifications with real-life experiences and accomplishments. Instead of listing all your qualifications, back them up with proof that you are capable to do what you claim. If you just list your qualities and strengths, it will look like you are just trying to inflate yourself.
Proofread Your Resume
Please don’t disregard this tip. Most people carelessly construct their resumes without thinking about proper grammar and phrasing. How can you get accepted for an interview if the employer sees that you are not even capable of writing simple English? If you cannot bring yourself to proofread your resume anymore, have someone competent do it for you.
Use Bullet Points Instead of Writing Your Resume Essay Style
Remember that text-heavy resumes are a big turn-off for potential employers. Who has the patience to read through paragraphs of potentially useless information when a resume is not written properly? Keep in mind that you are writing a resume not an expository piece. Be as concise in presenting your qualifications as possible so that employers will be able to understand everything quickly.
Put the Most Important Information First
Depending on the type of resume, putting the most important information first (i.e. previous work experience) usually does the trick.
Be Mindful of Formatting
Avoid kitsch in your resume. This means cutting back on the use of colored borders and fancy font styles. Make your resume look as professional as possible. Do not forget that a resume is an exposition of your skills and qualifications, not a showcase of your formatting and Word Art skills.
Only Include Information to Convince Employers of Your Ideal Candidacy
Please avoid negativity at all costs. Don’t include information that could hurt your chances of getting that interview. Mentioning your previous bad job experiences and misunderstandings with your previous boss should be kept on the down low.
