Tips for Writing a Resume

1. Make Sure your Name, Phone Number, and Email are at the Top. 

Your name should be the first thing on the resume and clear to see. Make sure you include your phone number and email! A full address isn’t necessary anymore, but you can list your city and state if you want to. Go the extra mile by including your Linkedin profile URL (don’t forget to personalize it!).

2. Keep Formatting and Font Choice Simple.

Crazy fonts and different font sizes can make your resume look busy and hard to read. It’s important to remember that many companies use an ATS, an applicant tracking system, to store resumes and track their hiring. ATS’ will scan your resume for keywords and will put the best-matched resume for the job at the top of the list for the recruiter to review. Keeping a simple format and with simple font will make sure your resume can be read by recruiters and the ATS.

3. Try to keep it to 1 Page.

Refrain from overloading your resume and keep your most recent and relevant experience and skills. If you have 15 years of experience, your high school part-time job doesn’t need to be on there. 

4.  Use Bullets.

Make sure your resume can be easily and quickly read with bullets. A recruiter does not want to spend the time to read an essay to find your achievements. List out your achievements and use numbers and facts to show how you helped or made a difference at the company.

5.  Use Key Words from the Job Description.

Try putting in keywords or skills that you have that are also in the job description on your resume. This will make it stand out that you have the skills that this company is looking for. 

6.    Put Experience at the Top, Education at the Bottom.

First, recruiters like to see you have and can do the minimum job requirements. College can teach us industry skills, but experience teaches us the soft skills that we get better at over time like communicating and multitasking. 

7.   List your Most Recent Position First.

 List your experience in reverse chronological order, typically your most recent experience can be your most relevant experience. Make sure to include the years that you were in the position, like 2018-2019.

8.   Spell check!

This may seem like a no-brainer but is missed so often. Nothing is worse to put on your resume that you have attention to detail but then have a resume full of spelling and basic grammar mistakes.

9.   Read the Directions.

You will notice that different employers will have you apply in different ways. Whether it is emailing the recruiter directly or filling out a form, read all of the directions. Some employers will require an offer letter, some require a resume in Word format. Make sure to get it right so your application makes it through. 

10.  Name your Resume Document

Once you apply, your resume may be read or sent to multiple people. Renaming your resume file to “yournameResume” will make it easier on the recruiters and hiring managers. Not to mention that will look more professional than resume(2).