A Good Resume Is Standard, Nothing Special. A good or great resume doesn’t make the person. You and your interview make the person. A good resume should be standard, which means it’s all the important not to have a bad resume. A bad resume obliterates your chances, and a good resume is the absolute minimum.
IMPORTANT RESUME TIPS TO KNOW
* The 7 Seconds Rule.
The average amount of time a reviewer spends on your resume is 7 seconds and that’s it! It’s partly because we have so many resumes to look at, and it’s partly because we’re lazy. Make sure the top half of your resume pops and everything is clear.
* One Page Resume Or Bust.
If you have a resume longer than one page, you just quadrupled your chances of having your resume crumpled and tossed in the bin. More is much less in this situation. Having a one page resume shows that you are concise, clear, and to the point. Again, we only spend roughly 7 seconds on your resume, so don’t bore us with irrelevant details. It’s all about what you’ve done lately, your education, and an interesting fact about you. Anything more and we’ll ask you during the interview.
* Don’t Over Think Design.
Unless you are a graphic designer looking for a job, there’s no need to over think the design of your one-pager. Contact info, latest two or three jobs with responsibilities, education, and hobbies done. Segment the page out in titles, use bullet points if you will, and make that one page as simple to read as possible. We really don’t care about what type of font you are using, whether the paper has a thicker weave, and all the nitty gritty details of your latest project. Like blogging, content is king!
* Don’t Hide Obvious Things.
If you’ve never had a real job before or are still within 5 years out of undergrad, you better not hide your GPA. Hiding your bad GPA is a 90% guarantee of getting your resume tossed because it shows that you think reviewers are stupid enough to not realize your grades are missing. We’ll start thinking the worst, so don’t hide your GPA! Don’t hide any of your contact details either. That will surely piss off your reviewer if she wants to contact you.
* A Good Resume Is Standard, Nothing Special.
A good or great resume doesn’t make the person. You and your interview make the person. A good resume should be standard, which means it’s all the important not to have a bad resume. A bad resume obliterates your chances, and a good resume is the absolute minimum. There is no one golden resume format. It just has to be easy on the eyes. From the examples below, you’ll see that all are acceptable resumes.
* Customize Your Resume As Much As Possible.
Don’t use a generic resume for all your applications. It’s important to highlight specific skills, attributes, and experiences you have that would be an asset to your new employer.
* Do The Not So Obvious.
If you’ve sent out hundreds of resumes already, and aren’t getting any responses, do something different. Put a picture of yourself up on the top right hand corner. Again, do this if you haven’t been getting any love at all, especially if you’re more attractive than average. LinkedIn profiles with picture profiles get clicked on twice more often than those profiles that don’t have pictures. Change your resume color to a green background. Make your objective statement a prediction on who will win the Super Bowl and why? Then parlay that with a follow up interview if your prediction holds true. If you aren’t getting any call backs, you have nothing to lose. If you do any one of the following things above, you will stand out and get the recruiter’s attention.
