Never Put This On Your Resume

Your resume is the first and sometime the only chance that you will have to impress an employer before an interview. This means that it is vital that you utilize your resume to put your best foot forward. Fortunately, there are a number of ways that you can improve your resume and make it stand out from the crowd. Here are a few do's and dont's that can greatly improve the impression that your resume creates.

5 Resume Writing Do's

1. Put Your Best Material First

Since many employers will not read your entire resume without first being interested in it, it is essential that you place your most impactful information within the first few inches of the top of your resume. This is sometimes referred to as the “prime-time” space. It is will where the reader will first focus their attention.

2. Focus on Recent Experience

Your employers are going to place most of their interest in your most recent experiences. This means that your resume should focus primarily on your recent experiences as well. While you can list a long history of experiences, you should include the more information about more recent work experiences.

3. Design is as Important as Content

Many people get so focused on creating the best content that they forget to look at how the resume appears as a whole. Make sure that you use a standard, readable sized font such as 12 or 11 as well as use at least 1 inch margins. Additionally, bullet points and insert rules and help your resume look more professional.

4. Emphasize Work Experience Before Your Education

While your education is important, once you have been in the workforce for a few years, it becomes a secondary focus for potential employers. This means that you need to emphasize your work-related accomplishments much more than your educational background.

5. Proofread

Aside from a poor design, there is no faster way to look unprofessional than to have misspelled words. It is vital that you always proofread your resume before sending it out. For the best results, try to proofread it more than once.

5 Resume Writing Dont's

1. Don't Lie

This seems like an obvious piece of advice, however more and more people are lying on their resume to get ahead. Employers can fact-check your background faster and more accurately than ever before and to think that they will not check your background before hiring you is a big mistake.

2. Don't Include an Objective Statement Automatically

Many people will automatically feel the need to add an objective statement to the top of their resume, however unless the objective statement is extremely well-written and applicable, it isn't always the best choice. Generally, objective statements are too general and since they are at the top of your resume, they are taking up the “prime-time” real estate, which should be reserved for the best information possible.

3. Using Adjectives Over Examples

Saying that you are a “self-starter” or “detail-oriented” isn't enough because everyone is saying the same thing. A better idea is to include specific examples of how you have been a self-starter or detail-oriented in the past..

4. Don't Include Too Much Detail

Having detail in your resume is important, but it shouldn't be an autobiography. Limit every thought to only one or two sentences If you add too much detail, your resume will become difficult to read.

5. Don't Include Personal Data

Although employers cannot discriminate based upon certain criteria, that doesn't mean that they don't do it. Only include the minimum amount of personal information. Information to exclude includes: marital status, birth date (age), race, height, weight, photos, etc.

Writing an excellent resume doesn't have to be difficult. The key is knowing what to do and what not to do. These 5 resume writing tips can go a long way in improving your resume.