Guidelines for What to Include in a Resume

Guidelines for What to Include in a ResumeGuidelines for What to Include in a ResumeWhen you are writing a resume, there are a number of resume formats you can choose, including chronological, functional, and targeted resumes. However, regardless of the format of resume you select, there are certain guidelines that most resumes should follow.Heres information on what to include in your resume, as well as what shouldnt be listed on your resume. There are also guidelines for resume length, font and page marginsYour resume should be as concise as possible two pages is the maximum length, but one page is preferable. Heres more about resume length and how long your resume should be. If you need to get your resume on a single page, heres how to tighten it up and gain extra space.Font and SizeDo not use ornate fonts that are difficult to read. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or a similar font is best. Your font size should be between 10 and 12 points although your name and the section head ings can be a little larger and/or bold. Heres how to select a font for your resume.Page MarginsThe voreingestellt page margins in word processing programs (1 margins on the top, bottom and left and right sides of the page) work for most resumes. However, if you need to tighten the margins to reduce the length of your resume, its fine to reduce the margins to a 1/2 on the sides and top and bottom.LayoutHowever, you decide to organize the sections of your resume, be sure to keep each section uniform. For example, if you put the name of one company in italics, every company name must be in italics. If you bold one job title, bold them all.Information to AvoidDo not include personal information such as birthday, height, weight, marital status, children, etc., unless the position requires it.AccuracyBe sure to edit your resume before sending it. Check spelling, grammar, tenses, names of companies and people, etc. Have a friend or career services counselor check over your resume as well. Use this proofreading checklist to make sure your resume is perfect.Heres some information that you should be sure to include on your resumeIdentificationInclude your name, address, telephone number, and schmelzglas address in the identification section at the top of your resume, or consider one of these other options for addressing your resume.Use a professional email address (i.e., johnsmithgmail.com rather than soccerloverhotmail.com).ObjectiveThis section is optional. If you decide to include a resume objective, keep it concise and specific state your desired job or field, and what you hope to accomplish in that field.ProfileAnother optional section is a resume profile which includes a summary of your skills, experiences, and goals written specifically for a job posting.EducationHeres more information on what to include and how to format a resume education section.Include the degrees you have received in reverse chronological order (with the most recent degree listed first).Be sure to include the name of each institution, its location, and your date of graduation (or expected date of graduation).When applicable, include your major/minor fields, as well as your GPA and any honors, publications, and projects.Unless you are a current high school student, do not include your high school degree.ExperienceHere is more information on the experience section of a resume, including what to list, and how to format it.Include your work experience in reverse chronological order (with the most recent degree listed first).This section can include jobs, internships, and volunteer work. High school students might also include clubs and sports teams when applicable.Include the name of the company, the position, and dates of employment.List roughly three important tasks, accomplishments, or skills gained at each job. Use action verbs to describe your achievements avoid passive phrases such as responsible for and duties include.Skills (Optional)Heres information on the skill s section of a resume.Include any computer systems with which you are proficient, particularly if they are related to the position for which you are applying.Include foreign languages with which you are familiar state both the language and your level of familiarity (beginning, intermediate, proficient, fluent).List any other skills you have that relate to the job but are not included elsewhere in your resume.Volunteer Work (Optional)You can include a volunteer experience section to convey your leadership, communication skills, etc. List the name of the organization, the dates of your volunteer work, and your achievements.Hobbies and Interests (Optional)You can also include a section on your hobbies and interests if they relate to the position. For example, if you are applying to work at a sporting goods store, you can include your passion for basketball.

5 Reasons Job Hunting Is Like Dating

5 Reasons Job Hunting Is Like Dating5 Reasons Job Hunting Is Like DatingLets face it for most of us, job hunting is a means to an end. Very seldom do you meet anyone who claims to enjoy the process for itself, and when you do, theyre generally such wildly extroverted people that theyre fairly rare specimens of humanity in the first place. In this way, job hunting is a lot like dating a thing you have to do, in order to get achieve your goal of a dream job or relationship, and not necessarily sohonigweinhing youd do for fun. Thats perfectly OK. In fact, by considering the many ways in which ansicht not-so-fun processes resemble one another, you can figure out ways to maximize the experience to get to the dream-job part that much sooner. 1. Rejection, Rejection, Rejection Why do most people dislike job hunting? Because so much of the process involves hearing the words, thanks, but no thanks or worse yet, sitting by the proverbial phone and getting no feedback at all. Its pretty ea sy to wind up feeling like a wallflower who didnt get asked to the prom when youve been looking for a job for some time and coming up short. 2. You Cant Hurry Love How long does it take to get a job? The answer, of course, varies, although one formula says that for every $10,000 worth of salary, expect to spend one month searching. Regardless, even when the economy is red-hot, you probably wont find the job of your dreams right away. As in dating, get ready to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince or princess. 3. Relationships of All Kinds Are Bigger Than One Person You can be a swimsuit model with an MBA and a side gig teaching Pilates in the end, its less about how awesome you are as a candidate or partner, and more about relationship fit. Think about it this way if youre a vegetarian, the worlds most beautiful and hilarious person wont be a good fit, if he or she is also a professional butcher if youre an introvert, your dedication and skills wont make you happ y in an open office full of Chatty Cathys. 4. Its All About Who You Know Even in this era of Tinder and Match.com, chances are, you know plenty of couples whove met through mutual friends. The reasons are pretty clear its easier to feel comfortable and safe with a stranger who has been vetted by people you trust. For similar reasons, at least 60 percent of job seekers find work through networking. Who better to tell you what its really like to work at a company than someone whos already toiling away in the trenches? And who better to recommend you than someone whos worked with you, or attended the same school or earned the same certifications or learned the same skills? Finally, the Recession may be over, but companies are still moving slowly when it comes to filling positions and signing new hires. Anything you can do to overcome a hiring managers apprehension is helpful, and theres nothing more persuasive than a recommendation from someone he or she already trusts. 5. Res ilience Is More Important Than Nearly Any Other Quality Think about the happiest, most successful people you know. What do they have in common? At work and in their personal lives, they bounce back. When it comes to dating or building your career, the most important thing you can be is resilient. Being able to get up when life knocks you down will keep you from missing opportunities. Plus, resilient people exude confidence, strength, and happiness attractive traits to hiring managers and everyone else. Finally, being able to regroup, analyze opportunities for change, and move on makes you better at being on your own side, like a good friend or a supportive colleague or partner. In love or in your career, theres nothing more important than that.

5 Excellent Ways Job Seekers Can Beat the Recruiting System

5 Excellent Ways Job Seekers Can Beat the Recruiting System5 Excellent Ways Job Seekers Can Beat the Recruiting SystemHave you ever wondered what happens with your resume after you submit your application? You probably havent, as you thought the next step is for one of the HR people at the company to read it and make an opinion. Not entirely true, Im afraid, because there is one more step your resume has to go through the Applicant Tracking System.The Applicant Tracking System, or ATS for short, is a recruiting software most companies use to triage the huge amount of resumes they receive every day. The system evaluates and identifies candidates suitable for one position or another inside the company, and does that based on keywords. They use very advanced and more and more sophisticated algorithms while also ensuring a certain level of fairness, treating all resumes the exact saatkorn way.There are, of course, proven ways to go around these ATSs and increase your chances that the sys tem will point out to your resume. Here are some tips you should considerBe at Least 60% QualifiedApply for jobs where you have at least a little under two-thirds of the required qualifications. Recruiters and hiring managers always build a job description for the ideal candidate, but will nonetheless hire someone who shows promise and is trainable. 60% is the standard most companies go for and will set their ATS systems to track.Use Specific KeywordsBefore you start applying for a certain job, take a look through similar jobs from other companies to get a more general idea of what companies look for in your field. Then adjust your resume to contain several of those keywords and increase the chances for your resume to come up on top. The easiest way to do that is to simply add a paragraph containing about 10 to 12 terms, titled Core Competencies, where you can list your abilities, i.e. add your keywords.Big companies, such as Target, request a very specific set of competencies from their employees, so from this point of view, it is always helpful to take a look at their job requirements before advancing to the actual application stage.It is also recommended to use individual resumes for each job you apply for. Use a standard and modify the resume based on the words used in that job description. Two companies often call the same thing differently, so make sure you use their specific terminology.Use Varied TermsOwing to the technological advancement and sophistication mentioned earlier, ATS systems now also look for synonyms or abbreviations of certain terms. For example, a doctorate degree and Ph.D. could mean the same thing to an ATS. This gives you the chance to add even more keywords to your resumewhile maintaining a natural appearance and not turning it into a list of words.Dont Use Irregular FontsThe advancement mentioned earlier has only gone so far, though, as most Application Tracking Systems wont recognize fancy fonts used throughout the resume and may skip entire sections entirely. Use simple fonts, in black and white and short sentences. Think of it as doing a Google search you always type in the exact thing you are interested in, not a story about it.Tables, diagrams, and charts are also something you should definitely avoid. While they may look good, recruitment software works exclusively with words and will skip any graphics you integrate into your resume.Follow-upIf you have the option, or if you were recommended internally by a friend or former colleague, give the company a call a short while after submitting your resume and ask if they had received it, or ask your friend to ask around HR for you. If successful, this will guarantee your resume has passed the ATS phase entirely. If it doesnt work, you wont lose much, as your resume will remain in the swimming-pool and have the same chances of being selected as before.A less intrusive alternative is simply mailing a hard copy of your resume. This will attract attention and a lso show you are interested in the job the company has posted the application for.Dont think that if you use these tips you will, in any way, cheat the system. You are offering the same information as before, only now it is structured differently, to be easily readable by someone else. The fact that someone is actually a machine makes no difference. Find a balance between practicality and looks and you will hear the phone ringing in no timeShare Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments