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Your resume is a written representation of your abilities, so it's important to put that representation together perfectly. A sloppy resume will only reflect poorly on your overall appeal.

1. Resumes

A resume is a written description of you, your work history, and your general/specific training or abilities. A good resume should always contain your name, contact information, work history, training/education, special abilities, and references.

2. Length

A resume should be long enough to include all the information needed, and short enough to actually get read. Obviously, an experienced doctor is going to have a longer, and more detailed, resume than a college student who's only had two jobs.

3. Font

Always use a business font when typing up any resume. Elaborate, cartoon-ish, or stylized font should never be used. For a safe bet, try some basic "Times New Roman" or "Ariel."

4. Types

There are slightly different types of resume choices possible, depending on your exact need. A targeted resume is specifically written for a certain job, highlighting only information relevant to the position. Chronicle resumes organize work history last to first along a time-line.

A functional resume focuses on experience and overall skill more than work history, perfect for people with spotty job record. A combination resume lists your skill/experience first, and then follows up with the work history.

5. Mistakes to Avoid

When putting a resume together, avoid common mistakes that will make you appear undependable. Always spell check your resume, as well as double check names, dates, and phone numbers. Always offer specific information to avoid sounding deceptive or wishy-washy.

Avoid adding any references that may be bad or impossible to get on the phone. That's just shooting yourself in the foot. Never make-up or ignore any vital details, if you don't know an address or date, either go find it or state your uncertainty. Never add unnecessary information, especially if it reflects badly on you.

6. Personal Information

Personal information should always be included in a resume, sometimes even on the top of each separate page. Keep this focused on general personal information, not you personal ATM code. State your name, street address, city, state, zip code, email address, and phone number.

7. Overview sections

Keep the overview section of your resume as short and sweet as possible. The overview is just a blurb about your best skills and what you're looking for in a job. Try to slip in positive and person sounding words such as "I", "believe", "feel", "can", "do", "able", "bright", and "intelligent."

8. Work Experience

List work experience on a resume whenever possible, listing the most recent job first and continue chronologically. Include any experience you can, unless it truly isn't related to the resume focus. If work history and references are linked, avoid adding any poor references. Use terms such as "agreed", "explore", "experience", "business", "company", and "valuable." Never use the term "fired", try "moved-on", "laid-off", "let-go", "down-sized", or "finished" instead.

9. Education

Always list every form of acquired education on your resume. The more training you have, the better it looks. Start with high school diploma or GED, and work into a college or trade school degrees, apprenticeships or certifications.

10. Other interests

In addition to listing additional schooling or training, think about listing your hobbies and interests if they apply to a work resume. If you are looking for a job as a seamstress and you design clothes in your spare time, it's probably a good hobby to mention.

Learn more about this author, Aysha Schurman.
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