A resume is the most important tool that any working professional or student can have. You will always need a resume to apply for new jobs and to apply for promotions. Always keep your resume updated because you never know when you will need it.

Your resume should reflect your skill set, education, and professional goals. These are some of my favourite resume writing tips to help you all organize and design your resume:

Template

Use a template that highlights your skills and reflects the job you are applying for/have. In any job you apply for, you want a resume that sticks out. I highly recommend finding a template on Etsy, they’re about $15 and will give you a resume, cover letter, and reference page set. There are so many professional but creative templates as well as colorful and elaborate resumes. If you are applying for grad school or an internship for a law firm then stick with the simple modern templates. As for more creative fields such as marketing and graphic design then you will want to find a creative resume.

Consistency

Make sure that everything is consistent. If you use 10 pt font for descriptions and 12 pt for headers then make sure EVERY description is 10 pt and EVERY header is 12 pt. If your titles are Avenir Next and your descriptions are Times New Roman then EVERY title needs to be Avenir Next & all bodies need to be Times New Roman. & so on. Make sure if you’re mixing fonts and sizes that they aren’t unprofessional and sloppy.

No errors

Always proofread. Check for any punctuation, spelling and grammar errors. Every company I have ever worked at threw away a Resume with an error or that was sloppy. Your resume reflects your work effort and experience.

Tailor your resume to the job you want/applying for

If you are applying for a specific job, look for keywords in the job postings that are relevant to your skillset and add them to your resume.

One Page

Keep your resume detailed but brief. Resumes should be simple and straightforward. Use active language without extraneous words: make sentences shorter & use more concise ideas.

Be Specific

Remove common or obvious skills from your resume. List skills that are important to the job you are applying for & be specific. Don’t just put “Computer Skills,” put HTML & CSS, Adobe Photoshop, SQL, iOS, etc.

Make it relevant

You should have five years of experience and education on your resume. Ten years MAX & only if it is relevant.

• Remove Middle & High School information if you have ANY college degree or have been out of high school for more than 2 years.
• Remove average or poor GPA
• Remove short term jobs. If you had a series of jobs while attending school that were not relevant to your career field/job your are applying for then delete it from your resume. You can speak to it in your interview and make sure to inform HR for their background check, but when an interviewer is reading your resume they want to know your experience related to the job your are applying for. Everything else is clutter and irrelevant.
• Swap out your Objective Statement for an About Me section. Interviewers know what you are applying for, they are reading your resume to learn more about you.

Highlight Important Information

List important job responsibilities, important achievements, and include numbers that measure your success for that particular goal or achievement.

Don’t lie or exaggerate

Always be honest. A simple background check or even a simple interview question can determine if you are being truthful. So always list your real job titles and responsibilities. Also, if you sell cookies for extra cash, DO NOT put that you are a CEO of a bakery. Your resume will be thrown away.

Know your resume

Make sure that you can talk to your resume and provide specific examples for any claim that you make.

Saving & Sharing

Always share your resume as a PDF and save the file with your name on it. Your layout and template of your resume do not generally transfer or open in tact when sending as a Word or Pages Document. So, ALWAYS save and send your documents as a PDF. It’s easier to open and keeps everything the way you created it.

Printing

Always bring 3 additional resumes to your interview: one for you, one for anyone who may drop in, & one just in case. So if your interview is with 2 people bring 5 resumes. You can also use the extra copies again, but it’s always good to show that you’re prepared.