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- Be concise! As a rule of thumb, resumes reflecting ten years or less experience should fit on one page. More extensive experience can justify the use of a second page. Avoid lengthy descriptions of whole projects of which you were only a part. Consolidate action verbs where one task or responsibility encompasses other tasks and duties. Minimize usage of articles (the, an, a) and never use "I" or other pronouns to identify yourself.
- Treat your resume as an advertisement for you. Don't sell yourself short; your experiences are worthy for review by hiring managers. Be sure to thoroughly "sell" yourself by highlighting all of your strengths. If you've got a valuable asset which doesn't seem to fit into any existing components of your resume, list it anyway as its own resume segment. Recent college graduates should include internships, part-time jobs in another area or field, volunteer work, involvement in school organizations, class work, involvement in management activities for sororities and fraternities and participation in sports.
- Omit needless items. Leave all these things off of your resume: social security number, marital status, health, citizenship, age, scholarships, irrelevant awards, irrelevant associations and memberships, irrelevant publications, irrelevant recreational activities, a second mailing address ("permanent address" is confusing and should never be used), references, "references available upon request", travel history, previous pay rates, previous supervisor names, and components of your name which you really never use (i.e. middle names).
- Quantify your experience wherever possible. Cite numerical figures, such as budget size, dollars saved, specific efficiencies implemented, hours of work reduced, number of days faster delivery to customer, etc., to demonstrate progress or accomplishments directly due to your work.
- Begin sentences with action verbs (managed, created, implemented, improved, etc.). Portray yourself as someone who is active, uses their brain, and gets things done. Stick with the past tense, even for descriptions of currently held positions, to avoid confusion.
- Proofread, proofread, proofread. Be sure to catch all spelling errors, grammatical weaknesses, unusual punctuation, and inconsistent capitalizations. Proofread it numerous times, over at least two days, to allow a fresh eye to catch any hidden mistakes. Then, have a trusted friend review your resume. Be sure to pick someone who is attentive to detail, can effectively critique your writing, and will give an honest and objective opinion. Seriously consider their advice. Get a third and fourth opinion if you can.
- Laser print (no typing or dot-matrix printers) it on plain, white paper. Don't waste your money on special bond paper, matching envelopes, or colored paper. Your resume will be photocopied, emailed, and scanned numerous times, defeating your use of special or non-white paper.
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