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RESUME ADVICE
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USE SPELL CHECK!
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Include your
full mailing address and phone number.
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Do not use any
silly or offensive email names. You
want to be taken seriously.
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Do not change your email address for one year. Get a
FREE
email address specifically for your job search from
Yahoo.com or Hotmail.com.
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GET RID OF YOUR OBJECTIVE STATEMENT!
Employers use Objective Statements
to shorten a stack of resumes. Instead, put on your cover
letter exactly how you connect to the job description.
If the company wants 10 years experience, tell them you have
10 years experience (do not allow them to make a mistake
adding-up your experience).
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Do not have ANY breaks in your employment history. Use years
(1999 -2003) instead of months (December 1999 - January
2003).
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Include your knowledge of software.
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Include that you were promoted ahead of your peers.
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DO NOT WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION!
Companies want to know how things improved when you got on
the job. This is your behavior in the past and your most
likely behavior in the future. Cover the Five items below.
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All civilian companies track these basics of business:
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Lowering Costs
- Discuss how you found ways to save money for the unit.
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Improved Quality
- Quality of the product or product of the service. You
improved the consistency of the quality of repairs. You
'Murphy-proofed' operations so things did not fall apart
when you left.
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Improved Efficiency
- Made things happen faster!
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Improved Customer Service
- Internal and External Customers. You where selected to
represent your command to other units.
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Improved Sales
- If you have that experience.
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Summary statement should be used to explain your behaviors for
success. Things you do routinely to be successful ("Invest into
those individuals entrusted to me." "Return all customers’ calls the
same day."). Do include the names of well-known companies.
Major companies look for people that have their competitor's name
within their resume.
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Label your attached resume with
your name
(not "resume.doc"). Most companies electronically file your resume.
If you name your attachment "JohnSmith.doc", it is not likely to
overwritten by the next guy who has a resume named "resume.doc".
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Lose the statements that say "great communications skills", "give me
a chance, I know I can do the job". Any high school student working
at McDonald's can make the same statements. Tell them your
experience in front of people. Tell them of your accomplishments
after being thrust into the leadership of those more
technically proficient than yourself.
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DO NOT WRITE YOUR RESUME IN 3RD PERSON. Start sentences with action verbs (i.e. -
working, starting, oversaw, responsible). This will keep you from
writing 'I was responsible...', 'I oversaw...’
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Do not bring up how you spend your personal time. Companies may
infer that your personal time may conflict with working evenings
and/or weekends.
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It is okay to do more than two pages. Most resumes are electronic
files. Length is not a big issue.
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