Top 10 Resume & Cover Letter Tips

1. Keep it Concise: Employers will tell you, if you do not grab them in the first paragraph, your resume is just going in the stack. A long resume or cover letter can be a killer. Think about it from the employer's perspective. If there are many candidates for a position, they need to review many resumes quickly in order to make a decision. It is just not practical to assume they will read every word. Try to keep to 1 or 2 pages at most. If you have something tht is so important that the employer must read it, it should be on page one. If you have relegated it to page three or four because there are more important details before it, it is not important enough.
   
   
2. Clear Objective: In the first sentence of your resume and cover letter, you should take the time to write a clear reason for why you have sent the resume to the employer. It may seem obvious that you are looking for a job, but there is more to it than that. Tell them in plain English, "I am seeking employment as a Programmer." or "Are you in need of a Place Kicker?" Your first sentence is your first contact with the employer. After that, they need to decide whether your resume goes to the programming director or the football coach. If you tell them right up front it increases your chances of reaching the right person.
   
   
3. Highlight Your Benefits: Its all about what you can do for the employer. When they read your resume, you want them to be able to picture you working for them. So when you list a skill or asset that you bring to the table, make it easy for them to see why it would be to their benefit to have someone with that skill. For instance, lets say your resume contains something like, "In depth knowledge of all the latest programming software, including x, y and z." These are skills that you posess. Now lets add the benefit so it reads, "In depth knowledge of all the latest programming software, including x, y and z means zero down-time for training." This method makes it very easy for the employer to picture how your skills will benefit them.
   
   
4. Check for Errors: Typos are the scourge of the modern age. From instant messaging, to email, to text messaging, people use abbreviations for everything and are losing the ability to write proper English. If your documents are mistake-free, you will stand out as someone who takes the time to do something right. This is especially important if you put something like the ever popular, "Attention to Detail" on your resume.
   
   
5. Hit the Highlights: You may be asking yourself how you can shorten your resume. One way is to use bullets. While you are bulleting, you should refrain from listing every single skill. Prioritize your skills and list the most important only. Yes, you can alphabetize the company snacks, but if you are not a vending machine technician, this is not an important skill.
   
   
6. No Fibbing: This is an easy one. Just like your mother always said, "What a tangle web we weave..." If you state skills or experience that is not your own, it WILL catch up to you. So stick to the facts and you have nothing to worry about.
   
   
7. Eliminate Unnecessary Work History: Sure, you may have helped the Wright Brothers build the first airplane, but that was a long time ago and aircraft have changed a bit since then. Work history should go back 10-20 years. For the most part, employers are not interested in the odd jobs you did during summer vacation from high school if you are looking for a professional position. List only jobs that pertain to the type of position you seek with two exceptions: 1. You do not want to leave a gap of time between two jobs, so if you had to wait tables as an in-between job, you should list it. 2. if you are looking for something entry level and the only experience you have is doing odd jobs during summer vacation.
   
   
8. Clean Formatting: It is not just important to have pertinent information in your resume, you also need to present it in a clean efficient manner. First of all, just because you have 3,000 fonts on your computer does not mean you need to use them all. Stick to Times, Helvetica or Arial and only use one on the entire document. Use the same font on your cover letter so they look like they go together. Use tabs to make sure things line up that should line up. There is nothing more distracting than a column of bullets that weaves back and forth down the page.
   
   
9. Leave Out Personal Information: Many people make this mistake on their cover letter. It is important to show your commitment to your work and that you are a real person, not just a piece of paper. On the other hand, an employer does not want to hear that you are looking for employment because your sick grandmother needs to go to a nursing home. It is just not relevant. Focus on what you have to offer the company, not what they can do for you.
   
   
10. Get Feedback: You should ALWAYS have someone impartial read your resume and cover letter before you submit them to a company. The fact is, you may have missed something or made a mistake and once the employer has it, it is too late. This is why newspapers have editors. It is not because the writers have bad spelling and grammar. It is because if you make a mistake once, you are bound to miss it if you proofread it yourself.