How NOT to Write a Resume

A resume is similar to a company website, or brochure for a service. Have you ever looked at

one and thought ‘I’m definitely not going with this company – they just don’t look professional’?

Resumes are similar. Resumes sell your personality, skills and credibility, and if there are errors

in spelling, if the resume uses unprofessional clip art, or if the layout makes understanding the

information inside impossible, then chances are the resume has just undermined your potential

for employment at the company in question. Don’t let these mistakes happen on your resume:

• Spelling/grammatical errors: Your resume needs to be grammatically perfect. If it

isn't, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about

you, like: "This person can't write," or "This person obviously doesn't care.". With

computer spell-checks, spelling errors typically happen with words such as

“there/they’re/their” or a word that is correctly spelled, but is a typo in the context (using

the word ‘out’ when you meant to write ‘our’). Another place to watch for errors and

typos: contact information. An error here, even on a superb resume, could mean that a

hiring manager won’t be able to get a hold of you.

• Poor layout/arrangement of information: The brutal truth is that the document you

have spent the better part of the day preparing will receive 8-10 seconds of a hiring

manager’s time, at first glance. If the information is arranged in a way that is difficult to

understand, the person reading it will probably not even give it that. Make sure that you

clearly arrange information, label important sections, have a linear job history. Make it

immediately obvious what position you are applying for, and how your skills fit into that

position.

• Not qualified for the job: It does not matter if you are qualified for the job or not –

what’s important is if your resume says that you are. If you have all the qualifications in

the world, it will not help you if your resume does not list them! Remember, a resume is

not a biography and should not have every job you’ve ever held in your life unless the

job is related to the position. If you are mass-mailing resumes, you will probably find that

your resume is disqualifying you simply because it is not targeted, and it is unrelated.

The problem with this approach is that you are burning bridges with only the click of a

mouse – you only get one shot in most cases, and it’s important to view that as an

opportunity to succeed, not as another email address to add to your resume email blast.

• Using inappropriate information: If your hobbies are not related to the position, don’t

list them. They are unnecessary. Make the resume as simple as possible – resumes that

are too flowery tend to get on hiring manager’s nerves, because it makes the information

within less accessible, not more. No personal information beyond what’s required (name,

phone, email, address). Even previous jobs that are unrelated to this position could be

considered ‘inappropriate’ however this is left to the resume writer’s discretion, since a

solid job history is extremely valuable.

• Poor/unprofessional graphic elements: Often times in describing Professional

Resume Design, the first question people ask is if we use different colored paper, or clip

art to spruce up the resume. Do neither of these things. A picture of yourself has no

place on a resume either (no matter how good looking you think you are.) Pictures will

not help your chances of getting an interview or employment. Using a colored paper to

stand out is not a good idea. It screams ‘unprofessional’ and diminishes your credibility.

If the paper’s tone approaches the tone of the printer ink, it makes the resume that much

harder to read.

• Format: If you are in any way unsure, play it safe – use a standard layout, standard font

choice (Times New Roman), standard paper color (white) etc. In fact, always use white

or slightly off-white paper. Everyone needs to look like a professional in the eyes of their

peers, and colored paper is a guaranteed way to diminish your professional credibility to

someone you have never met. Not a good way to start!

• Social Security Number: It's wise to leave your social security number off of your

resume for security reasons. Only provide this information after an interview.

• Possessive nouns or writing in the first person: When describing your job duties,

leave out "I," "me," or "mine." Use action words such as "coordinated" or "developed."

• Your cutesy e-mail addresses: An inappropriate e-mail address, such as

[email protected], will not win you any points with employers. Consider changing

a cutesy e-mail address to something a little more professional such as

[email protected].

• Salary information: This is confidential information and should not appear in a resume.

The appropriate time to include this information is during the interview or when

employers request it. Some employers would accept salary information on a resume in

the past, but now it's only necessary when requested.

• Phrases or words in all caps: When you use all caps in your resume, it gives the

impression that you're yelling at the reader. Let your accomplishments stand for

themselves. Don't use special fonts or unnecessary capitalization to get your point

across. The only time you should be using bold or caps is for titles or headings. Your

content should be standard font.

• Reasons why you left your previous employer: Using an ending date is acceptable.

However, including the reason why you left is not. Don't go into any details about how

you left on bad terms. Any negative information will undermine the positive, upbeat

nature of the resume. The goal of your resume is to get an interview. If you do, keep the

same logic – don’t express any negative aspects to leaving your previous job.

• Lack of Specifics: Employers need to understand what you've done and

accomplished. For example:

o A. Worked with employees in a restaurant setting.

o B. Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a

restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.

o Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but the details and

specifics in example B will more likely grab an employer's attention.

• Not Creating a Targeted Resume: Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all

resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with something employers

will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them.

They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific

organization.

• Highlighting Duties Instead of Accomplishments: It's easy to slip into a mode where

you simply start listing job duties on your resume. Employers don't care so much about

what you've done as what you've accomplished. Consider the differences below:

o Duty: Attended group meetings and recorded minutes.

o Accomplishment: Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and

compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational reference.

o Duty: Worked with children in a day-care setting.

o Accomplishment: Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and

prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performance.

o Duty: Updated departmental files

o Accomplishment: Reorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files, making them

easily accessible to department members.

• Going on Too Long or Cutting Things Too Short: Despite what you may read or

hear, there are no real rules governing the length of your resume. Why? Because human

beings, who have different preferences and expectations where resumes are concerned,

will be reading it. That doesn't mean you should start sending out five-page resumes, of

course. Generally speaking, you usually need to limit yourself to a maximum of two

pages. But don't feel you have to use two pages if one will do. Conversely, don't cut the

meat out of your resume simply to make it conform to an arbitrary one-page standard.

• A Bad Objective: Employers do read your resume's objective statement, but too often

they plow through vague pufferies like, "Seeking a challenging position that offers

professional growth." Give employers something specific and, more importantly,

something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: "A challenging

entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in

fund-raising for nonprofits."

• No Action Verbs: Avoid using phrases like "Responsible for”, “Managed”, “Oversaw”,

etc. Instead, use action verbs: "Resolved”, “Created”, or “Streamlined”.

• Leaving Off Important Information: You may be tempted, for example, to eliminate

mention of the jobs you've taken to earn extra money for school. Typically, however, the

soft skills you've gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are

more important to employers than you might think. Don’t forget about volunteer and

intern experience too.

• 9. Visually Too Busy: If In the military, you are often taught to write reports and

evaluations using wall-to-wall text (no white) The civilian resume does not use that

same rule and neither should you. It’s OK to have white on your resume. So show your

resume to several other people before sending it out. Do they find it visually attractive?

Is it easy to read? Or does it give them a headache?

• Incorrect Contact Information: I once worked with a student whose resume seemed

incredibly strong, but he wasn't getting any bites from employers. So one day, I jokingly

asked him if the phone number he'd listed on his resume was correct. It wasn't. Once he

changed it, he started getting the calls he'd been expecting. Moral of the story: Double-

check even the most minute, taken-for-granted details.

•

10 Words and Terms That Ruin a Resume

By Charles Purdy, Monster Senior Editor

Your resume needs an update -- that is, if your resume is like that of most people, it’s not as good as it could be. The problem is

language: Most resumes are a thicket of deadwood words and phrases -- empty clichés, annoying jargon and recycled

buzzwords. Recruiters, HR folks and hiring managers see these terms over and over again, and it makes them sad.

Wouldn’t you rather make them happy? It’s time to start raking out your resume, starting with these (and similar) terms.

1. “Salary negotiable”

Yes, they know. If you’re wasting a precious line of your resume on this term, it looks as though you’re padding --

that you’ve run out of things to talk about. If your salary is not negotiable, that would be somewhat unusual. (Still,

don’t put that on your resume either.)

2. “References available by request”

See the preceding comment about unnecessary terms.

3. “Responsible for ______”

Reading this term, the recruiter can almost picture the C-average, uninspired employee mechanically fulfilling his job

requirements -- no more, no less. Having been responsible for something isn’t something you did -- it’s something

that happened to you. Turn phrases like “responsible for” into “managed,” “led” or other decisive, strong verbs.

4. “Experience working in ______”

Again, experience is something that happens to you -- not something you achieve. Describe your background in

terms of achievements.

5. “Problem-solving skills”

You know who else has problem-solving skills? Monkeys. Dogs. On your resume, stick to skills that require a human.

6. “Detail-oriented”

So, you pay attention to details. Well, so does everyone else. Don’t you have something unique to tell the hiring

manager? Plus, putting this on your resume will make that accidental typo in your cover letter or resume all the more

comical.

7. “Hardworking”

Have you ever heard the term “show -- don’t tell”? This is where that might apply. Anyone can call himself a hard

worker. It’s a lot more convincing if you describe situations in concrete detail in which your hard work benefited an

employer.

8. “Team player”

See the preceding comment about showing instead of telling. There are very few jobs that don’t involve working with

someone else. If you have relevant success stories about collaboration, put them on your resume. Talk about the

kinds of teams you worked on, and how you succeeded.

9. “Proactive”

This is a completely deflated buzzword. Again, show rather than tell.

10. “Objective”

This term isn’t always verboten, but you should use it carefully. If your objective is to get the job you’ve applied for,

there’s no need to spell that out on your resume with its own heading. A resume objective is usually better replaced

by a career summary describing your background, achievements and what you have to offer an employer. An

exception might be if you haven’t applied for a specific job and don’t have a lot of experience that speaks to the

position you’d like to achieve.

Resume Action Verbs and Power Words

Absorb

Accelerate

Access

Accomplish

Accrue

Acquire

Achieve

Act

Activate

Adapt

Address

Adjust

Administer

Advertise

Advise

Advocate

Affirm

Aid

Alert

Align

Allocate

Analyze

Apply

Appraise

Approve

Arbitrate

Arranged

Assemble

Assess

Assign

Assist

Attain

Authorize

Award

Begin

Brief

Bring

Broadcast

Budget

Build

Calculate

Campaign

Certify

Chaired

Change

Chart

Check

Choose

Clarify

Classify

Coach

Collaborate

Collate

Collect

Combine

Communicate

Compare

Compile

Complete

Comply

Compose

Compute

Conceptualize

Conclude

Condense

Conduct

Confer

Configure

Connect

Conserve

Consolidate

Construct

Consult

Contact

Continue

Contribute

Control

Convert

Convey

Convince

Coordinate

Correspond

Counsel

Critique

Cultivate

Customize

Decide

Declare

Decline

Decorate

Dedicate

Define

Delegate

Deliver

Demonstrate

Depreciate

Describe

Design

Determine

Develop

Devise

Diagnose

Direct

Dispatch

Dispense

Distribute

Document

Draft

Edit

Educate

Emphasize

Encourage

Enforce

Engineer

Enhance

Ensure

Establish

Estimate

Evaluate

Examine

Execute

Expand

Expedite

Explain

Fabricate

Facilitate

Finance

Focus

Forecast

Formulate

Foster

Fund

Furnish

Gain

Generate

Graduate

Greet

Guide

Handle

Help

Hire

Host

Identify

Illustrate

Implement

Improve

Improvise

Increase

Index

Influence

Inform

Initiate

Innovate

Inspire

Install

Institute

Integrate

Interact

Interview

Introduce

Investigate

Itemize

Join

Justify

Launch

Learn

Lecture

Led

Lessen

Lift

Link

Listen

Maintain

Manage

Manipulate

Map

Market

Measure

Mediate

Merge

Mobilize

Modify

Monitor

Motivate

Negotiate

Observe

Obtain

Open

Operate

Order

Organize

Originate

Outpace

Outperform

Participate

Perform

Persuade

Plan

Prepare

Present

Prevent

Printed

Prioritize

Process

Produce

Program

Promote

Propose

Prospect

Prove

Provide

Publicize

Purchase

Pursue

Qualify

Run

Rate

Reach

Receive

Recommend

Reconcile

Record

Recruit

Reduce

Refer

Refocus

Regulate

Reorganize

Repair

Replace

Report

Represent

Research

Reserve

Resolve

Respond

Restore

Restructure

Retrieve

Review

Revise

Revitalize

Schedule

Screen

Secure

Select

Send

Serve

Seize

Showcase

Simplify

Solve

Sort

Specialize

Specify

Sponsor

Staff

Standardize

Start

Succeed

Suggest

Summarize

Supervise

Supply

Support

Surpass

Survey

Sustain

Target

Teach

Test

Track

Trade

Train

Transact

Transcribe

Transform

Translate

Transmit

Transport

Tutor

Unite

Update

Upgrade

Use

Utilize

Validate

Value

Verify

View

Volunteer

Watch

Weigh

Witness

Write

Yield

Declutter Your Resume in 5 Steps

Military.com

In preparation for a job search, you dust off your old resume and tack on your most recent job, new skills

and training. But without editing or deleting old information, your resume becomes a hodgepodge of

outdated accomplishments, awards and skills.

It's time to declutter your resume. To clean up your act, follow these five steps:

Step 1: Narrow Your Career Goal

Tom Kelly, president of Executive Recruiting Solutions, says many job seekers' biggest problem is not

being sure of what they want to do, adding that it's particularly an issue for those branching out into new

careers or industries. "The resume starts to lose focus," he says. "A whole bunch of extra stuff ends up in

it in order to try to appeal to a wider range of employers or industries."

Kelly recommends limiting your resume's focus or creating more than one version if you have multiple

target jobs. "It's best to declutter the resume by targeting one to three industries, max," Kelly says. This

makes it easier to consolidate down to relevant content.

Step 2: Condense Your Opening Summary

Les Gore, managing partner of Executive Search International, recommends including a qualifications

summary near the top of your resume. "Tell me a little about your background," he says. "Don't go

overboard, and don't overdo the selling. Be succinct and descriptive in terms of your experience and

collective knowledge."

And forget about crafting lofty mission statements or "me-focused" objectives that talk about wanting a

fulfilling career with opportunity for growth, advises Harvey Band, managing partner of recruiting firm

Band & Gainey Associates. "You're wasting page space with that, and you're wasting your time and

mine," he says. "Use the top third of the page to communicate your most recent experience and your

most impressive accomplishments. Get my attention. Then I'll keep reading."

Step 3: Edit Work Experience

Your resume's experience section should provide an overview of your career chronology and a few

highlights of key accomplishments for your most recent work experience. For professionals on an

established career track, this may mean summarizing experience more than 10 to 15 years old into an

"early career" section.

"I like to see summaries of earlier careers versus long, detailed explanations," says Kelly, who

recommends job seekers provide brief, one-line descriptions of earlier positions. "You don't have to list

every job that you've had out of college on your resume."

Gore agrees. "Often, I see way too much information on responsibilities and not enough on the

accomplishments," says Gore, who reviews hundreds of resumes each month. Although he finds it helpful

for candidates to provide a brief overview of the range of their responsibilities, Gore recommends these

details be summarized in just a few sentences.

When trying to weed accomplishments for space reasons, think numbers. "Take a hard look at what

you're saying," Band says. "If you can't back it up with numbers, percentages or quantify it in some other

way, then cut it."

Gore also likes the quantitative approach, as does Kelly, who suggests quantified statements have more

value to an employer than more general, nonquantified accomplishments.

Step 4: Consolidate Education

The education section is another area where you can gain space when updating your resume. Although

detailed information about internships, courses, academic honors and extracurricular activities can be

important for new or recent graduates, professionals with four or more years of experience can omit or

greatly condense this information, says Kelly.

Step 5: Select Your Skills

Many job seekers know the importance of keywords. But be careful not to go overboard, cautions Band.

Band says if your skills section resembles a laundry list of random terms, you need to do some serious

editing. "The best resumes are custom-created for a specific opportunity," he says. "If you're targeting

your resume, then you don't need to try to throw in every single skill set that you think might be

important."

And now's a good time to dump outdated technology, too. "Fortran, Cobol and other outdated computer

programs need to go," says Kelly. Not only can you gain some valuable space, but you'll avoid coming

across as a dinosaur.

Think Like an Employer

Throughout each step of the resume-decluttering process, Band advises candidates to address the three

key questions employers want your resume to answer: What can you do for me, what have you done

before, and can you do it for me again?

Writing Military-to-Civilian Resumes: Make Your Resume

Interviewable

Military.com| by Wendy S. Enlow

Consider the fact that your resume has three primary missions:

1. To showcase your skills, qualifications and accomplishments in such a way that it attracts

prospective employers.

2. To entice a prospective employer to take action; specifically, to offer you the opportunity for a

job interview.

3. To serve as a tool to guide your job interviews.

Your challenge, therefore, is to write and design a resume that not only opens doors to

prospective opportunities but can also be used as an effective interview guide. This is critically

important for military-to-civilian job seekers who must focus their resumes on skills,

qualifications and accomplishments that are transferable to the civilian workforce. In essence,

you want to write a resume that paints of picture of who you want to be and NOT who you were.

And, by doing so, you're able to create the perfect interview guide ... a tool (your resume) that

leads your interviewers down the precise path you want them to follow.

Here's an example ... David Michaels is retiring after a 20-year military career with a

specialization in manpower planning, force management and personnel deployment. His goal is

a senior-level position in corporate human resources and organizational development. When

David develops his resume, he basically has two options and the decision that he makes will

influence his entire job search.

Option 1: Focus his resume on who he was. If he does this, his summary might read something

like this:

CAREER SUMMARY

Twenty-year career in Manpower Planning, Force Management and Personnel Deployment for

the United States Marine Corps. Exceptionally strong strategic planning, analytical and

organizational leadership skills.

Option 2: Focus his resume on who he wants to be. If he does this, his summary might read

something like this:

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT & LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE

Human Resource Leadership / Human Capital Management / Team Building & Team

Leadership Workforce Optimization / Executive Training & Development / Organizational

Design

Twenty

-year career building and leading top-

performing organizations worldwide. Consistently

delivered the human talent required to support multi

-million d

ollar enterprises with critical goals

and objectives. Dynamic public speaker.

The obvious answer is that Option 2 is, by far, the best alternative to position David in

the civilian workforce. In the summary, David has used the right words to create the right picture

of how he wants to be perceived in the market. And, in turn, these are the skills and experiences

that each and every interviewer will ask David about. With his summary, he has created the

picture of a talented HR and OD executive and that's how people will perceive him and interview

him. Mission accomplished!

The resume for (the fictional) Roberta C. Jackson is an excellent example of the "make

your resume interviewable" strategy in action. Roberta has created a resume that effectively

positions her for a civilian career in inventory control and logistics. What's more, the format

works extremely well as an interview guide, clearly identifying her key areas of experience and

success, and making it easy for her interviewer to just follow along the path that she has

outlined. (View sample resume in Microsoft Word format)

Page 1 of Roberta's resume clearly shouts out, "I am an extremely well-qualified

inventory control and logistics professional with substantial experience in all inventory control

functions, management, organization, training, quality assurance and safety." By highlighting

each of her core areas of expertise (bold print) and then showcasing her most notable

responsibilities and achievements in each of these functions, she has created a powerful picture

of how she wants to be positioned in the market (and the key points she wants to focus on in an

interview).

Page 2 of Roberta's resume is equally well-presented. Her USAF career is prominently

presented and her educational credentials are easy to identify. Her job descriptions are concise

and focus on notable achievements, key projects and leadership competencies. It's not

necessary for her to go into any additional detail in the descriptions since she has already

highlighted the most important information on page 1. What's most impressive is that Roberta

has used "civilian" job titles so that the corporations to which she is applying will understand the

capacity in which she worked. Anyone interviewing her will now be able to ask, "Tell me more

about your job as an Acting Plant Manager?", the exact type of position she is currently

pursuing!

Your resume is a powerful tool on so very many levels. It's going to open doors and help

generate interviews and, if done well, can serve as a remarkably effective interview guide. Take

the time that is necessary to enhance your resume's "interviewability factor" and make it easy

for someone to hire you!

Wendy S. Enelow, CCM, MRW, JCTC, CPRW

Author, "Expert Resumes for Military-to-Civilian Transitions" available at www.wendyenelow.com (Bookstore)

Why Resume Design is Important

Your resume is your first impression

Everyone talks about how important a first impression is – and it’s true. Humans form

impressions of new acquaintances in 1-2 seconds – and resumes are typically given 8 seconds on

the first read-through. For a potential employer, your resume is your first impression – and for

most people applying for a job, their resume is the only contact they will ever have with an

employer.

Why a well-written resume just isn’t enough anymore

A targeted, well-written, error-free resume is the first step to getting an interview, but it’s not

enough to give you a leg up on your competition. Just as people are judged by how they look,

and the way they present themselves outwardly, so do employers judge resume documents that

land on their desk – by organization, cleanliness, and professionalism. Simply paying someone

to re-write your resume does nothing for the professional look and feel of that document. With 8

seconds to spend on the first glance, very little of that actually goes into reading the document –

most of that is spent scanning – something very different than reading.

Good design associates your name with professionalism, seriousness and credibility

That first 8-second can either be negative, neutral or positive. With great design / personal

branding, the first time someone scans your resume, they can be given unconscious clues about

who you are – as a designer’s purpose is to organize information in as favorable a light as

possible. Instead of being merely qualified, along with perhaps 30-50 other applicants – your

designed resume can hint at your seriousness and professionalism.

What does ‘good design’ mean?

Good design does not mean fancy paper, or outlandish fonts – although paper and font choice do

play a role. Good design organizes information so the most relevant details are most accessible.

Professional resume design draws from the inverted pyramid newspaper writing style, from

writing for the web, and from graphic design – which, at its best, is nearly invisible. Good design

is most noticeable from its result – the clear transmission of information. Traditional resumes

typically fail to be easy to read, because the body text is not arranged in an effective information

hierarchy, there are too many bullets, etc. An effective resume is one that is well-written, and one

that captures the imagination of the person reading it (even if in a small way).