Building the perfect resume

Careers and Colleges, Jan, 2001 by Jennifer Nichols

Handled the right way, one piece of paper can land you the job of your dreams.

If you want to get part-time work, a full-time job, a summer position, or an internship, a knockout resume is the key to opening doors. A resume showcases your education, job experience, and talents, and it has to jump from the pile of resumes that an employer will review to fill a position.

Scores of books have been written detailing the fine points of building the perfect resume. Here, we've condensed the information into the most essential advice. Check out the tips on this page and then refer to the samples on the following pages as guidelines for what to do and not to do when creating your own resume.

OVERALL LOOK AND LENGTH

Do not fill every inch of your resume with type. A balanced resume has one-inch margins all around the page and blank spaces between sections and individual items. Use bullets, boldface, and underlining sparingly. Never use the word "I," but do describe your experience using action verbs--"coordinated," "designed," and "initiated."

Thirty years from now, when you're the senior VP of a major corporation, a two-page resume may be appropriate. But at this point in your life, most experts say one page is plenty.

FORMAT FINE POINTS

There are several different right ways you may choose to organize the information on your resume. A lot depends on your education, field of employment, and prior work experience.

* THE OBJECTIVE: KEEP OR DUMP?

This question is easy to answer if you keep in mind the objective of an objective: It tells an employer that you want to be hired for a specific job. "If you know the job title, use an objective, and use the job title in the objective," says Kevin Donlin, owner of Guaranteed Resumes, a resume-writing firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. "It will help you make an immediate connection with the reader." If you're just sending out a generic query, you can skip the objective.

* EDUCATION: FIRST OR LAST? After presenting vital stats--name, address, phone number, e-mail--and possibly an objective, most resumes give an employment history, listing jobs the person has held in reverse chronological order. In some cases, however, you may break the timeline and prioritize information according to what is most likely to gain you a job. If you've just entered the working world and don't have much employment experience, your education history may come first. Be sure to list the name of your high school and anticipated graduation date. You might also mention specific areas of study where you excel--business, science, agriculture, etc. And a high GPA--above 3.5--can be impressive. Once you've been in the job market for a few years, you can drop the education portion down to the bottom of the resume.

DECIDING ON CONTENT

At this stage in your life, you may think you have little job experience worth mentioning. But think carefully of all your activities and the possible skills you have learned. Group projects show you have the ability to work with other people and meet deadlines. Participating on a sports team demonstrates dedication and discipline. Your involvement in student government or other extracurricular groups (the newspaper, yearbook, band, language clubs, etc.) shows commitment and possibly leadership ability.

Of course, if you have had jobs, list them, starting with the most recent one first. You can include volunteer or unpaid work, but as a general rule, don't list more than five positions. Select two or three duties you performed on each job that best capture what you did.

THE DO'S & DON'TS OF RESUME WRITING

Since Cynthia Martin graduated college a year and a half ago, she's been working in an entry-level editorial position. Now she wants to advance and find a new job. The resumes on these two pages illustrate winning and losing approaches. See if you can identify the positives and negatives before checking the explanations.

RESUME #1

A. Pink paper is noticeable, but not in a good way. Use good quality white or off-white paper.

B. Resumes are often scanned into computers for record-keeping purposes, and most character-reading programs don't recognize elaborate typefaces or other fancy doodads.

C. Nicknames are a no-no--use your full name and middle initial, if you have one.

D. We know it's your resume. You don't need to tell us.

E. Center your address under your name and include your phone number (and e-mail address, if you have one). Don't use that slangy e-mail name you thought was so cool in junior high--it can leave a negative first impression. Establish an e-mail address that easily identifies you. (See Resume #2.)

F. It's not only unnecessary to list personal information like age, marital status, and religious affiliation--it's illegal for an interviewer to ask about these things. Leave them off.

G. Flattery will get you nowhere. Your objective should focus on the specific position to which you're applying. Do not use "I"!

H. Using lots of fancy typefaces screams, "Look how many fonts I have!" It's unprofessional. Limit yourself to one or two easy-to-read fonts.