Killer Resumes That Will Keep Your Phone Ringing Off the Hook

Tips for Creating A Great Resume

Before you stand in front of the mirror thinking about your posture and what you should say during a job interview, ensure that your resume gets you through that (sometimes narrow) door of opportunity first.

Your resume acts as your first meeting with the potential employer and like in any meeting, you should ensure that you put your best foot forward.

It is quite shocking to note that many people do not know how to put together a resume that leaps and calls the attention of the recruiter. Are you one of them?

Define your resume style

There are three resume styles: chronological, functional resume and a combination of both.

A chronological resume, which is the most common one, lists down your job history with the most recent one listed first. This style is best suited for people who have work experience in single profession or company.

The functional resume focuses on your skills and achievements and not when you acquired them. People who have a wide spectrum of job experiences to speak of best use this style.

The combination resume is – what else? – a mixture of the above styles. It is best used by people who have vast work experience and yet want to impart them in a chronological manner.

After you have identified the resume style to use, let us move on to actually creating your resume.

It's gotta be MS Word

Let's face it; Bill Gates has dominated the world! Ok, the office space at least. Most resumes are sent electronically and like it or not, the recruiter will most likely have MS Word as his word processor so it is best that your resume is easily opened and read.

I did this… I managed… I was responsible for… I don't think so.

Let's not forget that it is already taken for granted that the resume is all about YOU. So there's absolutely no need to emphasize your greatness this way.

Further, please, we know that Comic San Serif is cute but is ‘cute' what you want to convey right now? No. For your resume, use either Times 10 pt or Arial 10 pt. You can use 12 pt too.

Handle gaps in your employment history effectively.

This is a tough one if you do have employment gaps. In this scenario, you can do the following.

Leave out months when stating work history dates (e.g., 1999-2005).

If you've been vacant for longer than a couple of months, fill the space up with RELATED items that you have done such as volunteer work, consultancy, freelancing, and others. Again, the key here is RELATED work or something you have done that has enhanced your skills for the job at hand.

Now, if you've really been away for long, list down how you have kept up-to-date with trends in the industry so that the recruiter is assured that you are capable for the position.

References – they DO matter

Many people do not pay enough attention to the names they list down as references. Many employers are extremely careful about who they hire because they want to ensure they get the RIGHT people.

As such, think long and hard if the people you list down REALLY have good things to say about you.

Here's a tip. Call the person you want to mention as a reference before you list them down.

First, a reference may be great but if he or she is going through a divorce right now, kind words may not spring forth easily. Second, you want to ensure that the contact information you have is up-to-date. No use mentioning people who cannot be reached right?

The Computer is never RWONG eh?

Lastly, do NOT forget to spell- and grammar-check your resume! Not doing so simply conveys sloppiness and an overall lack of professionalism.