Resume Tips

DO

Be brief. Keep your resume to one or two pages. The employer usually spends only 30 seconds reading your resume.

Be organized.

Be factual. Inaccurate information can only lead to trouble. Sell yourself on what you have instead.

Be positive. Take pride in the qualifications that you do have.

Know your resume. You will have to expand on it at the interview.

DON'T

Don't be general. Generalities such as "people-oriented" do not provide a resume reviewer with enough information. Stick to specifics instead, with well explained accomplishments.

Don't be overly extensive. Fight the tendency to put everything imaginable down on your resume. This is not the place to be creative. There will be many opportunities to relay your selling points to an employer besides this one.

Don't be fancy. Unusual headings, colored paper, and the like only serve to establish you as an outsider not confident enough to sell yourself on points. Keep resumes in a standard business format, on white/off white/ivory, 8 1/2" by 11" paper (white is best for scannable situations).

Don't let someone else write it for you. A resume is a personal document. It is your opportunity to create a desire in the employer to meet you in person. Someone else cannot put your personality into it.

Don't use without proofreading. Mistakes serve as an embarrassment destroying professional credibility. Carefully check the finished product and have someone else edit it for you as well.