by D. Trump

Created on: March 31, 2007   Last Updated: August 05, 2008

Your resume is one of the most important documents that you will ever create. It is a summary of your accomplishment, your goals, and really, of what you can offer to a potential employer. Take the time to create a winning resume and you may just land the job of your dreams.

Resumes tend to be a reflection of themes in Human Resource Management. As a result of this, there are often trends in the what experts agree to be the best format at the time. If you want to create the best resume possible, you need to find out what the current trends are. One of the best ways to find this out is to visit an employment office in the area, or even the local university or college job office. They often have sheets to follow that can help you showcase your best qualities. Some of the current trends are as follows:

- Write short descriptions that are easy to glance over and show the best points. The reason for this is that the managers are getting more resumes than ever before through email, so they would rather throw a resume away than read a long paragraph. A recent study showed that people with 1 page resumes were far more likely to get hired than people with longer resumes. Personally, I found this hard to believe, but I made a 1 page resume just to be safe.

- Start with your skills, then education, then move to achievements, and then onto experience. Try to tailor the resume to each job opportunity. Hiring managers want to see skills that related to the jobs they are hiring for. They are looking for specific skills, not general ones.

- Try to make your resume special. Managers like things that stand out. Maybe use a special paper, or something a little different. Make your resume show why you are different and better than someone else. AVOID using the same phrases that many others use, things like "good written communication," or "works well with others." I can speak from experience when I say that management has seen these phrases thousands of times and it means nothing to them.

- Don't include hobbies unless they relate directly to the job. Hobbies are not relevant and have no place on a resume, end of story.

Remember, finding a job takes time and effort. It is often said that it takes one month for every $10,000/year of salary. Be patient and do not sell yourself short. So many people get upset because they cannot find their dream job in the first month of their job search. You really have to take a step back and make sure that you do not jump at the first job that comes your way if you know that you should hold out for a better offer.

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