by Anne Gader

Created on: October 12, 2009   Last Updated: October 13, 2009

As a hiring manager, I have gone through stacks of resumes. Here are some of my tips of jobseekers.

1. Use action words with clear deliverables on what you did, that led to positive outcomes for the company.

e.g. Created a website that generated 5,000 sales leads within 1 month.

2. Spell-Check.

I cannot stress this enough, if you do not bother to spell correctly, how could anyone trust you to write a concise report, write a copy, and write convincing emails to clients? It does not speak well of an applicant whose resume is littered with spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and bad abbreviations. This is especially damning if you are looking for a job as a teacher, copywriter, marketing executive, or any managerial position.

3. Do not use an email with a strange name.

E.g. "funny_monkey_789@freemail.com" Stop this already! There are many free email hosts around such as Gmail and Yahoo, get one with you own name in it!

4. Do not submit an unprofessional picture of you in leisure

Said pictures include those of you partying, where the background is a night scene, an cropped picture where the picture is obviously that from a group photo, picture of you with ANY animal, or with any visible piercings. Please get yourself into a professional photography studio and have a picture taken of yourself with a pale collared shirt, and a jacket (for ladies). Include a neutral complementary tie if you are a gentleman. Above all, do not have your picture taken with any liquor in your hands.

5. Use only one font type

Throughout your resume, you should only use one font type, and in black. Allow your resume read crisply in black against a pale white sheet of paper. Your resume is going to be downloaded and photocopied, so as boring as you think black non white is, this presents the best conditions for reading.

6. No more than 3 Font Sizes

Also, keep it to no more than 3 font sizes. Unless you are interviewing for a designer's job, keep is plain and simple, and let your achievements and experiences speak for itself.

7. Address the Key Points in the Advertisement

When a manager hires, he/she usually has a criteria of qualities to tick. If you can address those fields stated in the advertisement upfront, you have a much better chance of being called for an interview.

8. Be Concise

Keep your resume brief, and to the point. Give sufficient information so that it is enough for you to be considered for an interview, but not so much that the Hiring Manager could pick bones with.

9. Be Honest

Never Ever Lie in Your Resume. If you're hired, you will always be worry about being exposed as a liar, and the fallout is just not worth it. In most industries the circle is pretty small, especially if you climb to the top of the corporate ladder. It is better to be honest than to concoct an elaborate lie that you have to layer upon, and e constantly worrying about.

10. Be Enthusiastic

Even in your resume, you can sound enthusiastic, and that will help in scoring an interview.

Goodluck!

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