Resume
Article Continued from Home Page
If you're just
about to graduate from college and are entering your first job
market, there are three things you can do to improve your resume
immediately:
1) Save
the Drama for your Mamma.
Employers can smell BS from 800 miles away, so get it out
of your resume. If you were a retail clerk stay away from job
descriptions like "Handled money and placed it in the register." OR
"Took customers orders and asked them what type of condiments they
wanted on their sandwiches." It sounds funny, but those two quotes
were pulled from actual resumes. Employers like hard workers, so
your job descriptions for retail jobs, restaurant jobs, should be
more about you than the job itself. Here's a good example: "Waited
tables at a 4-star restaurant 5 nights a week." That description
states that this person is a hard worker, is used to dealing with
high-end clients, and worked during school. These are all very
positive qualities. If the job description sounds like BS to you .
. . get rid of it. Employers give your resume a 30-second scan when
they receive it. If you load it with BS . . . you're bound for the
trash can!
2)
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
Simple and easy to read are two qualities that you want to
have in your resume. If you try to put everything about you on
paper, your resume is going to look like a disaster zone. Here are
some safe tips:
*Make sure you
have plenty of white space on your resume. A good exercise is to
pull out your favorite magazines and pick the ads you like best.
They all have a lot of white space.
*Your resume
should be easy to read. Do you send letters in 6 pt font? Didn't
think so. No fonts should be smaller than 11 pt. Always use a basic
font like Times New Roman. Stay away from scripts, and other fonts
because they are hard to read. Image that the person reviewing your
resume is 60 years old. Like all grandparents, just cut to the
chase and make it easy for them to see and understand. I would also
suggest using BOLD type for job descriptions because it allows them
to stand out.
3)
Consistency is King
Consistency will make your resume shine and will give it a
professional feel. EVERYTHING must stay consistent. Here's a quick
consistency checklist:
Fonts
Bolded Areas
(Are all of the job descriptions bold, etc.)
Verb Tenses.
This is a biggie. Make sure that all of your job descriptions are
in the past tense.
Have a minimum
of three descriptions for each job.
So that's it. Keep
it simple, consistent, clean and save the drama for your mama. In
my next article, we'll review job descriptions . . . a very crucial
part of your resume. In the meantime, take a long look at your
resume and contact me if I can help you improve your resume . . .
and the job you get!
Great article,
Kirk! Everyone from recent college graduates to executives
can learn from Kirk Boster...a company president who is "in the
trenches" everyday...interviewing job applicants, looking at
hundreds of resumes each week, and making career and company
decisions that affect his business and the lives of people every
day. Students at the university listen to Kirk when he
lectures in my classes because he has the answers to the resume
dilemmas that each of them face as they graduate and look for a
job.
Whether you are a
soon-to-be college graduate or an executive or professional or a
military person making the transition to civilian life, you need to
know Kirk Boster. Contact Kirk here at SLS for individual
help with your resume, a presentation to your group, and answers to
your job-related questions.
Dr. Carl
