Everyone knows that having an effective resume is an important aspect of getting the big interview. In fact, the whole purpose of writing a resume is to get a job interview. Once you get the job interview, it means that your prospective employer is interested in you as a candidate. So what exactly are the keys for a successful resume?

The first key to writing a successful resume is to have already determined what kind of job position you want. If you don’t know your desired destination, then it would be hard to try to figure out how to get there, right? Once you know what your career objective is, it becomes easier to tailor your resume to that career objective. If you are applying in more than one field, write a separate resume for each industry/job title. Once you’ve identified your objective, ask yourself what are the keys to attaining such a position. This can include relevant training and education, and also may include job experience. For example, if you are applying for a position as a senior engineer, this may require several years of job experience in this field. You need to fit your experience and qualifications to the job you are applying for. That means a combination of getting the training and experience relevant to your desired position, and listing the relevant information on your resume. If you don’t have the credentials for a position, don’t waste your time applying for that position. For example, applying for a senior engineer position straight out of college is probably a waste of your time and energy.

The next thing that you need to determine is whether you want to use a functional resume format (sometimes called a skills resume) or a chronological format. In a functional resume, work history is organized by relevance and skills instead of chronology. Most resumes will follow the chronological approach, in which positions are cited in reverse chronological order. However, there are several reasons why one might want to use a functional approach: changing careers; moving into or returning back to the workforce; present unemployment; job-hopping; temp and contract work; or having significantly more impressive past positions than the present. The functional resume helps show how prior work/educational background is relevant for the present job the applicant seeks. After career info, the educational background should be included. This section will be longer for recent grads, including internships and educational awards, and shorter for those with extensive work experience.

What are the essential elements that must go into any resume? The header should include a full name and all relevant contact information, including email and cell phone contacts. There should be a career objective stated, showing how your skills relate to the job you are seeking, and a summary of qualifications, explaining, if applicable, why you are switching careers or re-entering the workforce. Employment history by date or relevance is also a requirement, as well as educational background. (Education should go first for recent grads.) A section on skills is also a good idea, including certifications, software experience, professional memberships, foreign languages, public speaking experience, and the like.

Resume formatting should be simple, with minimal use of underlining, all caps, italics and bolded text, and no gimmicks such as graphics or shadowed text should be included. One page is a standard length, but a resume may be longer for extensive work experience or when relevant to the industry.

Helpful Hints on Resume Writing

  • Short and sweet- hit your high points and move on. Don’t repeat yourself.
  • Trade places with your reader. If you were hiring for a particular position, what would you look for in a candidate?
  • Use bullets with keywords and buzzwords from the industry and the job posting rather than long paragraphs.
  • Use strong verbs that show you are a go-getter, such as founded, built, led, supervised, managed, initiated, developed, prepared, or presented.
  • Avoid the first person.
  • Data, data, data. Better to say “Raised sales by 25% per year” than “Was a great salesperson.” Also, what you achieved in different positions is more important than what your job description was.
  • Hit your strong points early and often.
  • Match your resume to the job you are applying for. Your bullet points should roughly match the keywords in the job description.
  • Keep it upbeat. No one wants to hear your sob story.
  • Try to leave open spaces in your resume. It is like seeing a totally uncluttered room. Gorgeous!
  • Keep your font size readable; 10 point font is the minimum, 12 is standard. Use a standard font such as Times New Roman or Courier. Rarely should a resume run past two pages, and should only be 2 pages if you have extensive, relevant experience.
  • No typographical or grammatical errors are acceptable.
  • Keep your resume up to date. An out of date resume tells the reader that you don’t care enough about your job application to update your resume.
  • Don’t include references unless asked to do so.
  • Have as many skilled people as possible review your resume before you ship it out. Consider hiring a consultant as well or a qualified firm such as Logos Tutoring  to review your resume. After all, this is your career we are talking about!

Keep these points in mind and you will greatly increase your chances of getting that interview for your dream job. After all, that’s what the resume is for in the first place. Happy hunting!