By: Jason Kay
Submitted: 2009-12-08 14:12:53 | Word Count: 553
Resume writing takes a good bit of dedication and time on your part if you want to write a good one. Your resume is your key to getting your foot in the door at the job of your dreams. A well crafted resume will all but ensure that you will get a phone call asking you to come in for an interview.
Knowing how important it is to have a nice resume there is a checklist of things that should be addressed before you can call your resume complete. Here is what you should look at when tackling your resume writing:
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•Complete work history: Be sure that you fill in the complete timeline of your work history. Employers don’t like to see gaps in this area. If you were a stay at home mom or a student you can think of something clever to put down or simply state the fact that you were not employed and why.
•Plenty of contact info: Give a potential employer a chance to reach you by providing them with a multitude of ways to contact you on your resume. Try to leave at least two phone numbers and state at what times each one should be called. You can also leave an e mail address as well. Try to have a professional sounding e mail like johnworkshard@whatever.com instead or johnpartyshard@whatever.com. A clever e mail may make your friends chuckle, but it won’t have many employers smiling.
•Relevancy: When you are writing your resume you want to try to tailor it to the job you are trying to get. Be sure that you include anything that is relevant to that job and leave out things that have no bearing on the job whatsoever. You also want to avoid putting in too much ‘fluff’ as this too can turn an employer off.
•Structure: Do you know the proper format to write your resume in. Some jobs require a special way to write the resume and if you do not deliver in that way you will not even get a first glance. Don’t wait until it is too late to find out that there was a special format you should have used.
•Be truthful: this goes without saying really. Don’t lie about your past work history, your education, or anything else for that matter. A quick reference check can expose your lie and your resume will then be tossed in the trash.
•Avoid clutter: If someone gave you a piece of paper that was messy and cluttered and asked you to read it over if you wanted to, would you? Well neither will a potential employer. Be sure that your resume doesn’t look cluttered and hand it in neat.
•Have proof readers ready: Once your resume is completed you will need to have someone proof read it. While you can hit spell check for the misspellings, spell check does not catch typos like typing meat when you meant to type meet. Your resume should be proof read at least two or three times when done.
Remember the first step to you landing your dream job is your resume. You have to make the most of your resume writing to ensure that you produce a resume that stands out from the rest.
