NAILING THE R E S U M E

The Connors Group | Your Success Is Who We Know

Resume pages should always be .5 inch or larger.

1. Insert dates. Fill in everything and explain gaps.

2. Focus on your skills. Use Actions verbs such as “programmed” or “man-aged” instead of “assisted on” or “worked on.”

3. Skip pictures. They don’t showcase your skills, so they aren’t needed.

4. Stay current. The older the job, the fewer the bullets it needs. Interviewers want to know about your current skills and certifications, particularly in the IT industry.

5.5. Ask whether it’s relevant. Rewriting a resume for each job application is not only perfectly normal these days, but almost a requirement in some job mar-kets. Many candidates have multiple skills that can be applied in different ways; use the resume to showcase the most important skills for the job at hand.

Résumés get interviews; interviews get the job. These are two simple facts that candidates seem to overlook when re-entering the job market or even just sprucing up an exisng résumé. In the effort to secure the job, too many candi-dates cluer résumés with irrelevant details that wind up baffling HR reps. Focus on ge ng the interview — where you can share more details about your experience — by creang a résumé that's powerful and succinct.

Use a Clear, Orderly Format.RRésumés are not the place to get cute or to show your unique graphic design capabilies (unless you are a graphic designer). Instead, format the résumé with clean lines and savvy use of bullets to point out the most important facts first.

IfIf you have a tough me deciding how to format your résumé, use a basic tem-plate from Microso Office Word, which serves as the foundaon for most ap-plicant tracking systems. Also, keep your readers in mind and give them a break when it comes to fonts and font sizes: Never use a font smaller than 10 point, and sck to basic fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial.

Create Simple, Understandable ContentResist the urge to share everything about your life and personal goals. You can always talk about those during the interview. Instead, follow these ps when determining which content is most important.