Candidate Services

Resume Tips

PLEASE NOTE: In today's competitive market most employers and search firms receive thousands of resumes on a daily basis. Companies handle this volume with Resume Bank software. It is imperative for you to know that all Resume Bank software will automatically extract your name, address, phone numbers and email address, as well as your title, education and background experiences and insert it into information fields. The software uses this information to automatically match all of your background experiences to a particular job opening.

DO NOT make the mistake of adding separation lines and borders to make your resume look fancy. Doing this will confuse the software and cause your personal information to be altered and possibly downloaded into the wrong information fields of the resume bank, thus leaving your information useless when the company decides to do a search based on criteria that would match your background. This happens often and your information will be overlooked.

Write a winning resume:

The idea of writing a resume is intimidating to almost anyone -- how do you know what to include or even where to start? Here are a few tips to help you write a resume that's not only an outline of your employment history, but is also a sales tool that presents your skills and experience in the best possible light.

1. Define your job search objective before you begin. Take the time to think about your end goal, picture it clearly, and keep it in mind as you structure the content of your resume around that objective. If you attempt to write the resume without an objective it will likely come across as unfocused and disorganized to those who read it.
2. Read the job description thoroughly. This seems like common sense, but a few minutes spent reading the complete job description can save energy, time, and even embarrassment in the long run. Also, it helps you focus on keywords in the job description and custom-tailor your resume to include these keywords and emphasize the areas of your experience that apply to the specific position.
3. Your resume is a sales/marketing tool. Think in terms of yourself as the product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a sales brochure. Use your resume to market yourself. Showcase your features and benefits. Explain what makes you unique. Custom-tailor your resume to show how you are specifically qualified as the best candidate for this particular job.
4. The goal of your resume is to obtain an interview, not a job. You don't need to describe every accomplishment in-depth. Be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you that the potential employer contacts you for an interview. Once you get the interview you can provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments to land a job offer.
5. Use bullets. Bullets are an old advertising trick used to naturally draw the eye and organize information. Under each job description, use bullets with short sentences instead of long paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly, and a bulleted sentence format makes it easy to rapidly scan the resume and grasp the main points.
6. Add excitement with action words. Action words (verbs) create interest and make your resume pop. Use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like managed, developed, created, prepared, monitored and presented.
7.

#, $, %. Numbers, dollars and percentages catch attention and stand out in the body of a resume. They can also be used to illustrate your accomplishments. For example:

  • Managed a department of 10 with an annual budget of $1,000,000.
  • Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory.
8. Emphasize your strengths. 30 seconds is a typical time frame busy employers spend reviewing each resume, so decide which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those bullets at the top of your list where they are more likely to be noticed.
9.

Buzzwords add credibility. If there are terms or acronyms that show your competence in a specific field or industry, include them in your resume. For example, a Commercial Loan Officer with experience in asset based lending might include the bullet point:

  • Responsible for negotiating and closing ABL transactions.
10. Focus on the positive. Don't include negative or irrelevant statements. For example, if you feel your graduation date will put you at risk for age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If some of your current responsibilities aren't in line with your job search objectives, don't use them; emphasize those that do. Irrelevant information like height, weight, and hobbies do not belong on your resume unless you are a professional bodybuilder.
11. What do you know? Use your resume to display your breadth of knowledge rather than going into explicit detail in one area. You can go in-depth in your interview when you get a feel for which specific areas of expertise the employer is seeking.
12. Who do you know? If you have reported to individuals in authority such as a CEO or board of directors, include it in your resume. This conveys to the reader your high level of responsibility.
13. Keep it simple. Construct your resume to be reader friendly by leaving white space, using a font size no smaller than 10 point and limiting the length of the document to 1-2 pages. Copy intensive documents discourage reading; that's why effective, memorable ads are short and to the point (“Got milk?”). Remember, resumes are scanned quickly, so help the reader grasp the main points you want to get across and don't create annoyance by making him/her search for the facts.
14. Two heads are better than one. It's difficult to proof your own work. Be sure to have someone else read your resume as well as your job search objective and the job description. Encourage their questions and suggestions. They can help you think of points you may have inadvertently missed or clarify items that may be confusing to the reader. Use their feedback to edit and revise your resume. And remember, spell check doesn't catch everything!
15. Honesty is the best policy. Be truthful with all information and don't exaggerate. Be genuine with your recruiter and let him/her know whom you are working with and how many other companies have received your resume. (We eventually find this out and DUPLICATING EFFORTS is counter-productive.)
16. Prepare for the next step. Be sure you have current and viable references when asked. Let your references know they may be getting a call and give them a snapshot of the job description so they know which of your skills and assets are most applicable to the job reference.

 
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