5 Bits of Everlasting Resume Wisdom

Resume wisdom is rather cyclical. During the ~5 years I’ve had a working resume, the amount of conflicting advice I’ve received is incredible. Everyone sets different standards and expectations, and trying to meet all of them is impossible. But despite the amount of contradictory tidbits out there, there are still some general rules to follow to ensure your resume is taken seriously. I’ve recently found myself in a position where I’m reviewing a lot of resumes, and some glaring errors will make candidates hard to seriously consider, despite the actual content of the resume. First impressions are everything, and your resume is technically the first impression a potential employer will have of you. Want to make a good impression? Follow these tips.

One Page Only

For the love of God, never have a multi-page resume, even if someone on Yahoo Answers tells you it’s alright. For awhile, I was walking around with a 3-paged, stapled resume. There are a couple reasons why this is a bad idea. For one, people that review resumes are usually really busy, and they’re looking for a specific set of elements in a resume. They can’t be bothered to flip through pages for information; they’re trying to hire you, not read your life story. Everything you want to communicate should fit on one page, even if you have to get creative with formatting. It shows that you know how to be succinct and concise, and shows an appreciation for time-sensitivity. If you must, must have more than one page, possibly to avoid using size 6 font, use a paper clip instead of a staple. Book reports get stapled. I recently received a girl’s resume printed on fine, thick parchment paper, but the effect was ruined as two pages were crudely stapled together.

Fit the Style to the Job

Always consider where you’re applying when formatting your resume. If you’re applying to be a computer programmer, or a lobbyist, your resume doesn’t need any frills to stand out. That doesn’t mean it needs to be size 12 Times New Roman on white paper, but any distinguishing factors should follow a policy of minimalism– e.g. light earth tone or pastel accents. To the contrary, anyone applying for a position in a creative field should let their creativity shine through their resume. I work in a creative field, so my resume has lots of color, but I’m not an artist myself so it isn’t too out of the ordinary. As a general rule, the more art you’ll doing at your future potential job, the more artsy your resume should be. For those working in film, don’t discount the video resume!

Never Sell Yourself Short

This one seems obvious, but a lot of resume templates encourage you to sell yourself short through strange ranking bars and graphs. No employer is interested in half skills. If you’re certified in something, be it Adobe Photoshop or CAD Design, list it explicitly. Don’t fool around with arbitrary rankings– they have little context to begin with, and absolutely none to an employer reviewing your resume. If you took one video editing class in college, putting a little “3” next to Adobe Premier isn’t going to do you any favors– it looks half-assed. If it’s that important that you know a little bit of something or other, it will come up in the interview. In the meantime, focus on your strengths, what you’re an expert at– no one ever got hired for being a novice.

Format to your Reader

The “who” is important when tailoring a resume, but not as important as the “how.” If your potential employer will be reading a hard copy of your resume, be sure to take the time to print it on nice thick paper. If you’re sending it digitally, make sure it’s in a universal .doc format or a high-res pdf. Most importantly, consider the chance that your resume will be read on a mobile device, which is becoming increasingly common. That means you may have to ditch some creative formatting in favor of readability, which will be vastly appreciated by the reader. LinkedIn suggests totally ditching colorful resumes in 2016, but as I’ve said, resume wisdom is cyclical, and the mobile viewing experience is constantly changing.

Include Most Pertinent Experience

We all want to prove that we’re hard workers. I’m guilty of it myself– I want my potential employers to know the misery I went through, aged 17 working at Wendy’s. But the bottom line is, they don’t care. They only want to know why you’d be good for the job for which you’re applying. I solve this problem with a “Relevant Experience” section that goes in-depth about the related positions I’ve held, and an “Other Experience” section that simply lists other places I’ve worked and when, without going into detail. Once I’m older, and my experience is more weighty, I’ll do away with that section entirely. Remember the resume I mentioned earlier that was printed on quality paper, but stapled together? The extraneous page was only there to inform of the candidate’s employment at McDonald’s and Piggly Wiggly, a true resume tragedy.