Although every resume will be different, depending on your unique employment history, level of expertise, and profession, each resume should be organized in a way that creates an optimal synergy between past accomplishments and future career goals. Following are seven basic steps for building the solid foundation of a great resume.
1. Use the Right Point of View
The main goal of your resume is to create a direct relationship between you and the employer. The easiest way to accomplish this is by always staying in the first person. Although the first person means writing from your point of view (or using the world “I” to begin every sentence), resume writers employ a trick called using the silent I. This means that the “I” is always implied in every sentence; it’s just never written on the page. The examples below demonstrate how to use your voice when writing a resume, using the first person but never writing “I”.
- Correct: Manage 10 Sales Associates responsible for generating 80% of company revenue.
- Incorrect: I manage 10 Sales Associates responsible for generating 80% of company revenue.
- Incorrect: Manages 10 Sales Associates responsible for generating 80% of company revenue. (You never want to write “he or she manages”; that’s the third person.)
An employer probably would reject the incorrect examples shown above. Why?
“I” is a word hirers never like to see. Remember that most businesses are teams, and there’s no “I” in “team”. The third example is incorrect because it shifts to the third-person point of view. When the “s” is added to “manage,” the structure shifts the sentence to an action that somebody else is responsible for (He or she manages 10 sales associates). Remember: Never use the words “he,” “she,” “our,” and “there” in a resume. (These are those pesky third-person pronouns we all learned and forgot about in high school.)
2. Use Action Verbs
Action verbs are an essential part of a resume and an important part of producing a resume that gets you noticed. They are generally effective when used as the first word in an accomplishment statement, as they grab an employer’s attention and clearly demonstrate what you’ve achieved. Action verbs are also always used within responsibility statements; these are sentences highlighting your overall duties that we recommend writing in a paragraph format. Responsibility statements generally precede your accomplishment bullets but also can stand alone.
Dramatically different action verbs may be used to express the accomplishments or responsibilities of a Chief Operating Officer as opposed to a Managing Editor. The bottom line is that no two resumes are alike, and powerful action verbs should be selected carefully, depending on your industry. These verbs will change tenses (from present tense to past tense), depending on whether the skill, accomplishment, or duty is from a current position or a previous one.
3. Use a Headline to Hook Hirers
A headline is your major selling point and will sum up your objective and your strongest skills in a one or two-line statement. The key objective, combining it with your most attractive attributes or skills, is to tell a potential employer what you have to offer the company, not what you want from it. Headlines combine the advantages of professional objectives with the advantages of accomplishments. A personal objective can be very vague, and has no appeal to the employer. For example:
- I’m looking for a position that offers growth and the chance to utilize my skills and accomplishments in a career-oriented position.
This vague statement can be strengthened by converting it to a professional objective, combining it with your most attractive attributes or skills, and telling the employer what you have to offer.
Headline: Award-winning sales professional with quota-shattering background and demonstrated expertise in training, motivating, and overseeing junior employees.
One note: Don’t add a period after the headline; we want to keep this like a brief slogan that encourages you to read the entire advertisement.
4. Don’t Use Articles
Resume writing uses a telegraphic style that avoids using very basic words such as “a,” “an,” “the,” which are known as articles. When telegrams were the main form of communication, every word added to a telegram was an additional cost to the sender. That’s why articles usually were eliminated. The time that you have to convey your message is extremely valuable, and you should always remember to cut excess words in a resume, especially articles.
Time is also a valuable part of an employer’s day, and the faster he or she is able to review your resume and understand your accomplishments, the more powerful the resume is. A watered-down sentence will use “a,” “an,” and “the” when it is not necessary:
- Incorrect Example: Managed a team of three employees and directed the benefits administration for a major accounting firm.
A stronger sentence avoids these articles and is crisp and concise:
- Correct Example: Managed team of three employees and directed benefits administration for major accounting firm.
Although the difference may seem subtle, this is a key element of a powerful resume.
5. Use Numbers and Symbols Effectively
The standard rule of spelling out numbers from one to nine applies to professional resumes. However, when you are citing monetary amounts of $1 million or more, use the numeral. When you use numerals, these highly attractive figures jump off the page faster than they would if they were spelled out.
- Correct: Directed seven employees and oversaw $1 million budget.
Incorrect: Directed 7 employees and oversaw a one million dollar budget.
6. The Header Is the Most Important Part of a Resume
Although it may sound like something that’s so basic that it doesn’t need to be mentioned, the most important part of your resume is the header, which includes your name, address, phone number, and e-mail. If these things aren’t included or if there’s a spelling mistake or typo in this part of the resume, the employer will not be able to contact you. You can have the most beautiful, well-written resume in the world, and it will be completely irrelevant. An employer will not try to track you down.
7. Avoid Topics That Can Screen You Out
Whether you were a member of your church’s choir or the leader of a group dedicated to advancing sexual equality, avoid including information on your resume that does not support your professional objective.
Let your accomplishments and skills speak for you. Don’t give a hirer any reason to reject your application outside of the qualifications. You should omit from your resume height, weight, sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and physical disabilities unless they are job-related or you are applying to organizations that you know will see them as pluses. Age and photographs are other areas to avoid including in a resume.
After you’ve completed your resume, a quick review of these areas will ensure that you won’t be eliminated from consideration because of simple mistakes.