Make Your Resume Content Clear, Concise and Credible

• who you are
• where do you live (P.O. boxes imply impermanence - a negative)
• contact information, including phone, cell and e-mail
• email addresses that are private and preferably include your name
• a position objective that relates to the job for which you are applying
• a summary of your qualifications
• a description of your responsibilities
• the kinds of experience and expertise you have
• the company(s) for which you worked and the dates of your employment
• to whom you reported
• the promotions you achieved
• the projects you managed or in which you participated
• your accomplishments

Resume Top Ten Checklist

1. Be factual, not editorial. Statements like, I am a hard-worker and enthusiastic, are not facts, but qualities, which the employer will determine about you during the interview and attempt to validate in their reference check processes.
2. Use a functional resume when changing careers. If you have decided to go into management, but have never been more than a project manager, create a heading called Management Experience. Include the various projects you have led, the number of people you managed, and the results. For example:
   
   

   Management Experience Project Manager, Medical Staff Development, Mercy Hospital, 1995 to 1997. Improved communications, staff relations and morale as the matrix-manager of four senior managers including the: Chief Medical Officer, Hospital Administrator, Senior Supervisor of Nursing, Registered Nurse Supervisor, and up to eight RN's

   
   
   
3. Begin your activity statements with action verbs. In the bottom line, the main reason you are being hired is to take action over an area of responsibility. Unless you were in the military or served on a committee, stay away from phrases like, served as. Worked is a legitimate action verb, it just lacks luster and, on a work history sheet, is truly redundant, as is Responsible for. Try to find another word from the list below that more aptly describes your skills. Do your best to use as many different action verbs as possible to begin your activity statements. Why not have the interviewer think of you as a go-getter right from the start? Use these action words to accomplish this:
   
   Action Verb Sample List
   
   

   Accomplished, achieved, acquired, acted as, adapted, added, adept, administered, aided, analyzed, answered, approved, arranged, assigned, assisted, authored, automated, awarded, booked, brokered, brought, built, centralized, chaired, co-chaired, co-engineered, co-sponsored, coordinated, completed, conceived, conducted, conserved, consolidated, constructed, consulted, contributed, contracted, controlled, converted, convinced, counseled, covered, created, co-created, cross-trained, customized, deferred, defined, designed, developed, directed, doubled, edited, educated, enhanced, enrolled, encouraged, established, evaluated, exceeded, expanded, experienced, expertise in, facilitated, fielded, filled, gained, generated, grew, hired, identified, implemented, improved, increased, initiated, installed, instituted, introduced, joined, launched, led, leveraged, liaison, loaned, managed, matrix-managed, maintained, marketed, merged, monitored, motivated, negotiated, netted, opened, organized, oversaw, participated, partnered with, penetrated, performed, pioneered, planned, played, positioned, prepared, presided, prevented, priced, proficient, programmed, promoted, proposed, provided, purchased, reported, qualified, quadrupled, received, reduced, redesigned, re-engineered, regulated, relocated, reorganized, represented, researched, responded, reviewed, revitalized, saved, scripted, secured, selected, singularly, skilled, specialized, sponsored, sold, staffed, started, strengthened, structured, successfully, supported, supervised, surveyed, talented, targeted, taught, turned around, tracked, trained, transferred, translated, tripled, tutored, upgraded, won and wrote.

   
   
   This list is just a beginning. Create a list of your own action words and use them in your resume, as done in this example: Sample Action Word Activity Statements
   
   

   Brokered Pacific Bell Directory's ongoing, statewide, facility leasing program. Managed four Pac Bell staff members and a million dollar plus budget allotment. Selected sites, planned space and negotiated 76 leases valued at $1.1 million. Coordinated installation of corporate wide computer system with corporate IT manager. Analyzed A/P, A/R, distribution, warehouse management credit, customer history systems. Trained sales, accounts payable and receivable staff on newly implemented systems. Oversaw design and construction of public facilities for City of Sunnyvale. Centralized management of capital improvement programs for all internal departments. Converted 12-employee engineering division into new project administration division. Wrote procedures manual, conducted personnel evaluations and redesigned jobs. Administered $40 million annual capital improvements budget. Directed development of customized IBM mainframe financial database for 700 entities. Supervised 40 accountants and MIS personnel to develop and implement system. Acquired over $800 million in external financing. Negotiated acquisition of Canadian paper company, MTR, with Prime Minister. Established and operated first in-house continuing education program for accountants. Reduced personnel by 33% through automation of manual processes.

   
   
   
4. Only include pertinent information. Think about hiring for your own department. You have fifty resumes to go through. Does it really matter if someone has a trophy in skateboarding? This can be interesting conversation during your interview, but is not relevant data for your resume. Neither are your hobbies, children's names and ages, nor the length of time you have been blissfully married to your fabulous spouse.
   
   
5. Create a memorable resume. Be sure to leave sufficient white space, or blank space, at the margins and in between your activity statements. Check to see if your activity statements are targeted messages that demonstrate your efficiency and effectiveness. Long, run-on sentences written in a blocked format are very hard on the eye. Let others make that error. You make your resume easy to read by using sentences with varying lengths. Notice also the eye-pleasing effect of the right margin 'wave format' and the bolding of the key statement in the following resume:
   
   Sample of the Easier to Read Wave Style Format
   
   

   Worldwide Bank, San Francisco, CA 1983 to 1994 VICE PRESIDENT, CUSTOMER RELATIONS Trained 10 customer service managers in professional presentation techniques. Established new operations procedures to improve customer satisfaction. Negotiated "buy-in" from impacted departments.

   
   
   Now view the more formal, flat look of the block format, a style often seen in newspapers. The difference is that a newspaper column does take up the entire page. Newspaper columns are divide into 'column inches' that are generally never more than two inches wide, making them easier on the eye and enhancing comprehension. Although the content is interesting, you have to really pay attention to every line and nearly every word in order to get the message.
   
   Sample of the More Difficult to Read Block Style Format
   
   

   Head/Coordinator, Northern Branch of the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE), Penang, Malaysia. Full responsibility for operating this U.S. government education center, which included a library and advising service, and served over 7000 clients.

   
   
   
6. Keep all personal data off your resume. With all of the discrimination fears abounding in corporate America, do not put anything on your resume that the company hiring managers and screeners may believe could be the basis for a problem. Therefore, it is important to leave off information that describes your age, height, weight, religion and country of origin, marital status, and the names and ages of children.
   
   
7. Read every word of your resume out loud - then have it proofread by at least one other person. Typographical and grammatical errors are major red flags to employers. The message they convey is I do not pay attention to detail, or worse, Don't hire me! I'll make mistakes. A great way to proof your own material, before you hand it off, is to read it aloud. Incorrect spelling, extra words, and grammatical errors seem to pop right out, including well intended content that doesn't make sense. Never rely on spell check. Overt was used in a resume when the person meant over; word instead of world; positive instead of position-but the spellchecker recognized each incorrect term as a legitimate word. You will risk making these errors if you only read your resume. You will catch them for certain if you read your resume out loud each thyme you make a charge-oops! See what I mean!
   
   
8. Print your resume on 20 to 24 pound bond paper. Bond paper has a quality feel to it that copy paper does not. You want your information to connote your high self esteem, and copy paper simply doesn't cut it. The preferred colors are white, antique white or off-white, with envelopes to match. Kinko's and many other copier places provide quality bond paper inexpensively. If your competitors use copy paper, it is to your advantage. If they use bond, and you use copy paper, you are at the disadvantage. Therefore, always follow up a faxed or electronic resume by presenting a fresh copy on crisp bond paper at the interview.
   
   
9. Target your resume to the position for which you are applying. If your abilities are diverse, then you will require several different resumes. For example, if you were qualified for both sales and marketing positions, you would have two targeted resumes. Note, too, the different summaries:
   
   

   MARK HANSEN 123 Brown Drive, Pacifica, CA 90444 (415) 125-6789 and Email: mark.hansen@hireme.com Objective: TECHNICAL MARKETING MANAGER 14 years experience in merchandising, positioning and launching high tech products Expertise in sales, marketing, market research, competitive analysis, product management Extensive background selling to manufacturers' reps, OEM, and Fortune 500 companies.

   
   
   and/or:
   
   

   MARK HANSEN 123 Brown Drive, Pacifica, CA 90044 (415) 125-6789 and Email: mark.hansen@hireme.com Objective: TECHNICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE 14 years sales and marketing experience in computer electronics industry Expertise in developing engineering and high tech accounts Exceeded quotas consistently

   
   
   
10. Describe your Major Projects and Achievements separately from your Functions and Skills, as in the following example:
    
    

    Best Communications, Inc., San Francisco, CA 1990 to 1995 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Managed 200 mile East Bay territory for national corporate presentations skills training firm. Sold communication-training courses for improvement in written, verbal and presentation skills to multiple industries, including high tech, biotech, medical, transportation, banking, wine, energy, manufacturing and engineering industries. MAJOR PROJECTS and ACHIEVEMENTS Developed large software developer into a major account from zero to $75,000 in first year. Created a customized program to meet clients' specific requirements that became a company- wide offering. Penetrated international hospital supplies manufacturer producing over $110,000 in quota. Provided account with a 4-day training in Puerto Vallarta for U.S. sales and marketing force. Exceeded quota of $425,000 and $500,000 by 15% in 1990, 1991, and 1993. Achieved top nationwide honors by exceeding quota performance and achieving highest number of new accounts in 1995. Expanded new accounts annually by 10%.