Resume Tips

When working in a small company, often times employees are asked to assist in various roles. This is why I, the bookkeeper, ended up reviewing resumes for a Clerical Assistant opening. Although not trained in human resources, my boss asked me to look through the resumes to see if any of them sounded promising.

When going through the hundreds of resumes, they are marked YES, NO and MAYBE. There are simple things that kept some resumes out of that YES stack. Needless to say, I was shocked by the number that went to NO before the experience was reviewed.

This is being written by my point of view to hopefully be of some help to those looking to improve their resume.

Spelling and grammar

Many resumes were put in the NO stack for simple mistakes. Examples include misspelling the city or state you live in, errors with area code (typing 440 instead of 404), or misspelling your name or spelling it differently on the resume and cover letter. If a simple mistake like this is found, some employers are not going to keep reading. This may show that you do not pay attention to detail and do not proofread your work.

Format

Make sure the alignment is the same throughout the document. If your job title is bold italics for one of your previous employers, it should be bold italics for all of them. If you abbreviate an address in one place, all addresses should be abbreviated. These are not definite no's, but again, some lack of attention to detail. It could also be viewed as not knowing the word processing program; for a clerical position, this could move the resume over to NO.

Dates

The dates for education and jobs should make sense. It seems strange to have dates out of order or wrong. An example would be when the end date is before the start date (09/05 01/04). Again, watch formatting on the dates.

Paper

When distributing your resume, make sure the paper is clean, with no rips or tears. While these things may not can be avoided, it can look like you don't care what your work looks like. A resume is a reflection of you.

Email Address

This is important although often overlooked. When you are emailing your resume or putting your email address on your resume as contact information, use a generic email address. Some employers may worry about calling on HotMomma@, RoadRage@, KillerBoy@, or LazyBones@. For personal emailing these are great, but keep in mind you are presenting yourself as a professional.

Always remember that your resume and cover letter are the first impression an employer receives.

Learn more about this author, Martha Adams.
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