Resume Dos: Best Practices
- Start with your name at the top: Make your name prominent by increasing the size of your name compared to the rest of the resume.
- Provide professional contact information: Include a frequently used professional email, phone number, and a link to your LinkedIn profile.
- Detail your education: List your educational background, including institution, degree, major, graduation date, and honors.
- Focus on relevant work and internships: Highlight experiences that align with your career goals and demonstrate your skills.
- Use strong action verbs: Start each bullet point with action verbs that convey your contributions effectively.
- Specify job details: For each position, include company details, job title, employment dates, and key responsibilities and achievements.
- Quantify your accomplishments: Use numbers to quantify your achievements, such as percentages, project completions, or metrics.
- Customize for each application: Tailor your resume for each job, emphasizing skills and experiences directly related to the role.
- Focus on format: Maintain a consistent and easy-to-read format throughout your resume.
- Create sections: Use headings to create sections in your resume (eg., Education, Skills, Professional Experience, Conferences, Research Experience, etc.)
Resume Don’ts: Common Mistakes
- Clutter your resume: Keep your resume strictly professional. Do not add personal info or unrelated hobbies and interests.
- No long resumes: Aim to keep your resume concise. For most candidates with under 10 years of experience, a one-page resume suffices.
- Use confusing jargon or acronyms: Make sure your resume is easily understandable by a wide audience. Avoid using industry-specific jargon or acronyms without providing clear explanations.
- Include unverified or exaggerated information: Honesty is crucial. Avoid embellishing your skills, experiences, or accomplishments.
Resume Considerations: Unique to your situation
- Objectives or Summaries: These can be included to your resume only if you have 7+ years of experience. Fresh graduates with less than 5 years of experience should not have objectives or summaries. Career changers should have an objective section.
- Naming your resume file: Use a specific and professional file name that includes your full name and the position you’re applying for, such as “JohnDoe_ SalesManager.pdf.”
- Resume is not a CV: Although the purpose might be similar, a resume is not a CV. A CV (Curriculum Vitae) is less restrictive, more exhaustive, and can be more than 2 pages.
- Different resume formats: Although the chronological resume is the most common format of resume, other resume formats such as skills-based (functional) resume or a hybrid resume (mix of chronological and functional) can be used. These formats are used by career changers, executives, or people with more than 10-12 years of experience.
