Creating a Resume - Five Tips for Resumes

Creating a resume that is error-free and one that maximizes your skillset will put you ahead of other job seekers in this tumultuous economic market. With such a high unemployment rate, employers are forced to screen candidates like never before.

So putting your best foot forward begins with your resume. The smallest error could catch the employer's eye as he/she tries to hire only the best candidates from what has become quite a large pool of available talent.

Follow these five tips when creating or updating your resume:

1. Put as many "keywords" as possible into your resume without cluttering it. Keywords are identifiers that the employer looks for when trying to fill a position, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. If you have this skill but only list Microsoft Office as your skill, the employer may never come across your resume in his search. Be specific when listing your skillset.
   
   
2. Formatting matters. If you begin your resume using a certain bullet point type, make sure you continue to use the same one. Don't revert to a square bullet point if you have round bullet points throughout half of your resume. Also be sure to use the same size and color bullet point - sometimes, through no fault of your own, the word processor will insert a different bullet point size, color, or type. Just be cognizant of this.
   
   
3. Use the spellcheck tool. As you're writing your resume and perhaps even customizing it to the company or companies to which you're applying, it's easy to make a spelling mistake. Don't simply rely on your word processor's spellcheck tool, however. It will not catch words that are correctly spelled but are incorrectly being used, i.e. then or than, there or their, your or you're. Look over your resume carefully after writing it.
   
   
4. Do the dates make sense? In other words, is your resume in chronological order? It should be!
   
   
5. Contact information. Important! Make sure your contact information at the top of your resume is accurate. Also, if you have an obscure email address or even a questionable one, consider creating a professional email address used in your job search, e.g., John.Smith@xxxx.com

Well, I hope that I've shown you some useful tips to help you along the way in your resume writing.

If you need any assistance, EditNY offers new resumes for only $15 and updating of your old one for $10. Other administrative, editing, and proofreading services are also available. Contact EditNY at EditNY@yahoo.com.