Resume Writing

Do’s

• Do lead with your strengths, prioritize job duties in order of importance
• Do revise & target your resume to accommodate skills outlined in specific job advertisements
• Do use bold, italics, or underlining to draw attention to Employment, Education and other Headers
• Do be consistent with tabs, bolding
• Do put references on separate sheet
• Do list all volunteer experience. This helps to fill in gaps in employment
• Do fill in gaps in employment if you were doing unpaid but valuable work: “Full-time parent” or “Travel & Study”
• Accentuate the positive. Omit negative information & irrelevant points
• Do use a font size that’s easy to read. No smaller than an 11 point
• Do use easily read fonts “Comic”, “Chiller”, “Script” are not for resumes
• Do keep one original resume to use when photocopying

Don’ts

• Don’t forget to proofread. Check for typos & grammatical errors, or even, coffee stains. Ask a friend to proof for any mistakes you may have missed
• Don’t use the most expensive, heaviest bond paper. For faxing/photocopying plain white paper works best
• Don’t try to squeeze all your information onto one page. If your career warrants a two-page resume then go ahead & create one that reflects your skills, education, and experience
• Don’t clutter your resume with unrelated information or facts
• Don’t EVER use whiteout or, even worse, pen to change details on your resume
• Don’t lie about education, dates, or job titles. If a prospective employer does a background check and finds that you lied, this could lead to immediate termination
• Don’t include reasons you left previous jobs. Phrases like “Company sold”, “Boss was an idiot”, etc. have no place on your resume
• Don’t include personal information such as marital status, age, number of children etc.
• Don’t use personal pronouns such as “I” or “me”. E.g. Instead of “I was responsible for…” use “Responsible for…”
• Don’t use family or friends as references
• Don’t enclose your reference sheet when sending your resume, take references to the intervie
• Don’t go into every detail of every job. Be clear and concise. You want to use your resume as a tool to get you an interview, not a job