Four Resume Tips For Today's Applicants
By Chris Alfe, Thingamajob Staff Writer
Neither the fundamental components of an effective resume nor the overall purpose of an effective resume has changed much in decades. Still, evolution in the modern career market means job seekers should evaluate their resumes to make sure they reflect the changes in how applicants and hiring personnel communicate in the electronic age.
The parts of a traditional, chronological resume are intuitive and fairly standard. Generally, applicants shouldn't tinker with these parts by adding, removing or even rearranging them. Sections on Identification, Objective/Career Summary, Career History and Main Accomplishments, Education and Activities should be included. Volumes of detailed materials are available online and at local libraries to help applicants craft these sections to best describe their accomplishments, with an accent on strengths and uniqueness. Instead, here the focus is on tips not often found in resume writing instructional materials, suggestions made primarily as a result of how the electronic age has changed resume processing and communication.
TIP #1 - Identification Section Should Be Complete
The cycle time between when a job opening is announced and when resume reviews and interviewing begins is getting shorter. It is vital for applicants that potential employers can reach them quickly. Therefore, e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers should be included where applicable. One should even consider assisting potential employers further by placing next to each phone number listed the estimated time he or she can be reached at that number.
TIP #2 - Prepare a Plain ASCII Text and a Rich Text Version of Your Resume
Different companies have different methods of capturing resumes for later access.
Some companies use optical scanning systems to convert paper resumes into electronic resumes. Some of these scanning systems often have difficulty interpreting rich text markings such as bullets, italics, or pictures. By delivering a rich text resume to a company or service using these systems, one runs the risk of having the scanning system insert garbage characters or spaces into his or her resume, rendering it unreadable or, at the least, unprofessional.
If one is not certain whether a potential employer can handle rich text, and the employer asks for a paper resume, he or she should deliver a plain ASCII text version to them.
Resume posting sites, such as Thingamajob and others, vary similarly. While some can accept rich text versions of electronic resumes, many cannot. The upload instructions on individual sites should be read carefully before submitting. If ASCII text resumes are accepted only, asterisks or pluses can be used instead of bullet marks. Also, since some sites don't automatically wrap text ASCII text, text width (left to right) should be kept at about 6 inches across to eliminate the need for scrolling.
TIP #3 - Focus On Keywords
Applicants, then, should be sure to specifically include on their resumes words that describe their skills and experiences. When referencing professional experiences, the most descriptive words should be used. "Balance Sheet Accounting" might be used instead of "Basic Accounting", and "MS Word" instead of "Word Processor", for example.
When referencing technical skills, application version numbers should be provided when applicable. Also, quantification keywords such as "3-5 years" or "100+ users" should be included when possible. Finally, applicants should be certain to use the most common spelling of specific keywords. When executing keyword searches, recruiters may miss resumes containing "C ++" or "C plus plus" if the most common spelling of that particular skill is "C++".
TIP #4 - Special Exceptions For Entry Level Applicants
As mentioned previously, it is rare that one should stray from the traditional chronological resume design when creating a resume. Two groups, entry level applicants and applicants with unstable work histories, are exceptions.
Entry Level applicants can fall easily into the electronic abyss if they don't modify their resumes somewhat. The Education section should be moved in front of the Career History and Main Accomplishments section, for obvious reasons. Perhaps not so obvious, however, is the importance for these entry-level job seekers to follow Tip Number 3 within the Education Section. Not only does this help the applicant describe his or her skills more fully, it also allows these entry level resumes to be picked up in the recruiters' search queries.
Applicants with many jobs in a short period of time may opt to create a resume with a Career History and Main Accomplishments section organized by project or skill and not by employer. This is done to emphasize thorough experience, especially technical experience, while demphasizing the number of employers for which the work was conducted. This type of presentation is also ideal for those with expansive amounts of work experience, as a chronological listing of employers may cause the resume to exceed electronic space limits imposed by some scanning and storing systems.
Chris Alfe is a staff writer for thingamajob.com. He has ten years of experience in staffing and human resources and currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland.
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