Resume Tips

Mistakes to avoid

1. Attempting the "One–size–fits–all" approach

Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with something employers will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.

2. Highlighting duties instead of accomplishments

It's easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing job duties on your resume. For example:

1. Attended group meetings and recorded minutes;
2. Worked with children in a day-care setting;
3. Updated departmental files.

Employers, however, don't care so much about what you've done as what you've accomplished in your various activities. They're looking for statements more like these:

1. Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational reference.
2. Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performance.
3. Reorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department members.

3. A bad objective

Employers do read your resume objective, but too often they plow through vague pufferies like, "Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth." Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: "A challenging entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in fund-raising for nonprofits."

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Tips for Effective Resume

1. Cater Your Resume for the Industry : 

Unlike advertising and design professionals who have greater creative license in designing their resume for those fields, the mechanical engineering industry won't be impressed and may be turned off by distinctive resume design.

2. Replace your Objective" with a "Career Summary" : 

A Career Summary is designed to give a brief overview of who you are and what you do. Most Objectives sound similar: Seeking a challenging, interesting position in X where I can use my skills of X, Y, and Z to contribute to the bottom line. Not telling at all.

3. Identify Accomplishments not Just Job Descriptions : 

Hiring managers, especially in technical fields like engineering, seek candidates that can help them solve a problem or satisfy a need within their company. Consequently, you can't be a solution to their problems without stating how you solved similar problems in other companies and situations.

1. Focus on what you did in the job, NOT what your job was there's a difference
2. Include a one or two top line job description first, then list your accomplishments
3. For each point ask yourself, What was the benefit of having done what I did?
4. Accomplishments should be unique to you, not just a list of what someone else did
5. Avoid using the generic descriptions of the jobs you originally applied for or held

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RESUME SECTIONS

Missing Contact Details
Remember to include all of these details:

1. Full name
2. Address (Street Address, City, State, Zipcode)
3. Phone number (Home and Cell)
4. E-mail Address (Personal)

Missing “Introduction” section

The way that you begin your resume will have a lot to do with what stage your career is in, whether you are an entry-level candidate, a professional, in the midst of a career change, and other variables.

Missing “Education” section

You spent all that money on your education, so don’t forget to include it! The placement, size, and content of this section will vary depending on how recently you’ve been in school. Read this comprehensive guide to find out how to write this section properly.

Missing “Skills” section 

Again, you can label this section in many ways. “Additional Skills” “Related Skills” “Career Skills” “Professional Skills”, etc. This section should be targeted at the job that you are applying for. Even if you are capable of playing guitar, you should not include that skill if you are applying to be a chef! At the same time, think about including transferable skills that can be appreciated across industries.

Resume uses adverbs like “quickly” or “efficiently”:

Adverbs look and sound childish. They aren’t convincing, and don’t really give the hiring manager more information about what you did. If you want to convey that you were quick and efficient at a job duty, you should use numbers and figures to prove your point, not meaningless words that are assumed anyway.

Only wrote one version of your resume : 

Most people write a “one size fits all” resume for every job they apply to. This is suboptimal, as job roles are too varied for a single resume to work.

Resume uses bad coloring :

Coloring is acceptable to employ on your resume, but make sure to choose easy to read colors that don’t become eyesores. Generally speaking, just choose a single color for the headings, and black font for the subheadings and bullet points. Otherwise, your resume may be hard to read, look tacky, and be generally off-putting.

Responsibilities written too vaguely :

Including information that was “expected” of you in your former position and that does not go above or beyond normal expectations for the positions won’t stand out to potential employers.

“Assisted CEO in the planning of daily activities” is a horrible bullet point as it doesn’t describe responsibilities or skills. Instead, consider “Scheduled appointments, managed budget and enacted CEO directives”.