Sometimes the simplest things can leave the biggest impression when a recruiter or hiring manager gives your resume a 30 second review. I have summarized 5 General Resume Tips below that you should implement right away if you want to ensure you make it past the 30 second test:
- The standard font size for a resume should be 10 or 12 point font. You can go as high as 14 point font for headers or titles, but try to avoid italics, all caps, or unique fonts that can be distracting to the reader. Make sure you have uniform 1 inch margins throughout the document as well.
- Keep your resume to 1-2 pages depending on your experience level. Our recommendation is for individuals with less than 5 years of experience to keep the resume to one page, while folks with more experience can afford to have 2 pages. Anything longer than 2 pages may remove you from consideration.
- Make sure you have an email address that includes your name, initials, or something professional on your resume. You should avoid providing an email address that is inappropriate or contains poor humor. You certainly don’t want your email address to leave a bad impression. This common mistake is easily avoidable.
- Avoid using abbreviations in your resume. Many times the first line of review for your application will be an HR representative or someone not as well versed in the role you are targeting. If your resume is riddled with obscure abbreviations, it reduces the impact of the message you are sending.
- It is unnecessary to have graphics, photos, or personal information such as your gender, ethnic background, date of birth, or marital status on your resume. It is illegal for an employer to ask for most of these things and the graphics can be extremely distracting. Many employers utilize Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) to scan resumes upon the initial review of applicants, so the graphics are typically unreadable regardless.
These tips should start you on the right path to developing a more marketable resume. Combined with the weekly tips we offer through The Confident Career Blog, you will greatly improve your chances of generating more interviews in 2014!
Im verry eager to find a job in you agency hoping that will you will help me.Thank you
I am a great and smart worker i love too learn new things and i have a lot of resturant expericance and i love working and helping all people and custmers and i am very respectful and always about getting the job done and giving a hand to help others when they need help thank yu regina edmonds
Wow! I could not even guess about it)) Not bad.
Face to face conversation can tell more then piece of paper called Resume!
Everyone can find good writer of resume makeover and resume & cover letter
Looking fantastic ! But can you read personality, eligibility …from paper ?
Last couple years face to face interview becoming so rare and rare …..phone interview
Maybe robots will replace humans characteristic and we will have more speakers then workers ….
Can anyone spell correctly these days, or does it matter? If I notice run on sentences and/or poor grammer, I’m sure the person reading my resume will also notice these things.
Robert,it is important to have great “grammar” but the word needs to be spelled properly, as well.
Some will even say hat their favorite subject in school is speling
Thank you for the tips they were very informative and helpful.
I am going to redo my resume now using these tips .
Please use a spelling and grammar check! Especially for those who do not speak English as their native language. You may know how to write code and program out the wazoo but you’re also going to need to interact with people who only speak English.
“Broken” English is VERY distracting. Just sayin’