| Your resume gets you to the next step - an interview. Our advice helps make it the best representation of your skills possible. |
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| What’s the difference between a good resume and a bad resume? One gets you an interview, the other doesn't. The Resume Center has tips and tools to help you enhance your existing resume. Our annotated example of a 'Good' resume and a 'Bad' resume is a good place to start. |
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| Resume Do's |
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State a specific objective. What is your singular goal? |
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Compose your work and education experience information to clearly support your objective. |
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Focus attention on your strengths. If you don't have a vast amount of work experience, list your education first. |
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Quantify and qualify your accomplishments - what was the result, how many, in what time period? |
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Run a spell check of your resume on a computer. |
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Find someone who's strong in English grammar to proofread it. |
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Use high quality white or off-white paper, 8.5x11. Do not fold - when mailing, use a large envelope. |
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Use one typeface, 10pt to 14pt - a standard one like Arial, or Times New Roman. |
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| Resume Don'ts |
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Talk about your life goals in the objective statement - talk about your specific job goals. |
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Include personal information such as your age, photos, or hobbies - unless they are directly relevant the job you're applying for. |
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Include other information that is not specifically related to your qualifications - save issues like your salary requirements for the interview. |
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Write in the first person or in a story format when describing your experience - keep it professional. |
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Format your resume with big type, bold, italics, or underlines - keep it clean and flowing from top to bottom. |
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Use colored paper - your employer's first impression of you comes from your resume, and what looks happy to you, may well look goofy to them. |
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Lie about your background or exaggerate - make the very most of the truth instead. |
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Make any negative comments - don't complain, be careful with criticism, stay positive. |
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