A Few Resume Observations

The other day, I wrote about some email observations. Today I would like to discuss some observations related to resumes. Let me begin with ‘every resume needs a Summary at the top of the page! The Summary is like your elevator pitch; it should grab the reader’s attention, but it also must be brief. The purpose of the Summary is to stake out your territory and help the reader understand what follows. By the way, I HATE the lists that many people use after their Summary. To me they usually contain a lot of redundancies.

Every resume needs a physical address and your email address. Hard to believe, but there is a growing trend of resumes without a physical address. May I ask, are you sleeping in a car? If you are, then your address is where you keep the car parked. When including your address, it must be complete: street, city and state. You must also include an email address, written using uppercase and lowercases, which increases readability, as in [email protected].

Resumes should be either 2 or 3 pages, NEVER 1 1/2 or 2 1/2. If you have over 20 years of experience, you will need to have a 2-page resume. It will be hard to squeeze all of your experiences into only one-page. Regarding font size, don’t use 8-point type, as the best way to create a 2-page resume. Perhaps your eyes are getting better, but mine aren’t. NO ONE can or actually does read a resume written using an 8-point type. All resumes should be written in 12-point type.

It’s not about reducing the size of the font, it’s about editing. Everything you want to say, may not be as important as you think it is. Take time to read what you have written and then remove the unimportant information. Focus on what makes you unique. A clearly written resume will increase your chances of someone actually reading it. Also, I’m not sure where the silly notion of a stand-alone page for education came from. I don’t recommend it and suggest you put your education history at the bottom of your final page.

All of your work experience must be listed on your resume. While the last 10 years are the most important, leaving off your earlier work experience or the dates you were worked makes you look old. Work dates should be year ranges, not months. Months are like subtracting Roman numerals, and I missed that day in 3rd grade. Many of you think if you list dates, others will know you are old. Don’t you think sooner or later they will find it out? Especially when they meet you? How exactly are you planning to recover from making them feel stupid? If you provide dates, including your college graduation, most people will breeze right past the fact that you are likely older than time itself. Whereas missing information screams OLD.

Every company needs a one-line definition, even companies you think everyone knows. Most jobs fall to industry, and the folks who do the initial screening are often not as knowledgeable as you are. I recommend you include both the specific industry and the size of the firm and/or division. This information helps the reader know if you’re a fit, which makes their life and job easier.

If you don’t actually know how to type, have someone go over the formatting. Page breaks need to be forced. What looks right on your computer may split differently on mine. Use bolding in a consistent manner to aid in readability. Also, put your name on every page along with page numbers. Since you are, for the most part emailing your resume, your file name should be something like BudMatthewR.doc. It is important to use your complete name to avoid any confusion. I have been recommending this approach for many years and find it hard to believe so many people can’t get it right.

I hope my resume observations and insights prove helpful since your resume is probably the first step in the interview process.

Regards, Matt