Resume Elements
Strengthening you resume
This section will be a bit of a free-association for the next few weeks. I’ll be adding new resume formats as I find interesting styles, innovative approaches and resumes to avoid.
RESUME BASICS (level one)
Up-to-date contact information including phone number and e-mail address
Avoid placing information in a text box. Text boxes are not parsed in some resume parsing software.
Reverse chronological order
Correct dates
Correct company information
Correct degree designation and graduation dates
Graduation dates are option
Keep in mind that a graduation date will potentially give an indication of your age
Correct titles
RESUME BASICS (level two)
Career summary
Should be in line with the position for which you are applying
Career goals
Positional summaries
Keep the summaries brief
The bulk of the details should concentrate what you've accomplished
Awards
Profession Affiliations
Volunteerism
Special Accomplishments
Consider refreshing your resume format
There are excellent resume formats available on www.canva.com. I highly recommend using a combination of text and visual examples of your skills and experiences.
Make the resume interesting to read but not busy
RESUME BASICS (level three)
Focus on numbers
Anything that justifies your existence. Did you make money, save money, increase sales, reduce scrap, increase profits, improve employee or customer satisfaction, etc
Add numbers that will tell the reader that you understood your mission
If you cannot find numbers, reach back to you performance appraisals to determine what metrics were used