Business Writing Episode 3: Resumes

Welcome to Writing Fresh! I’m Natasha. Today we’re talking about one of the most dreaded business documents: resumes.

If you are looking for advice on job hunting, check out askamanager.org. The woman who runs it, Alison Green, is a former hiring manager and she is awesome. Her advice is helpful and up-to-date.

I can’t cover every possible way to create a resume and I’ve never hired anyone, so I can’t give you any insider knowledge. Instead, we’ll discuss resumes in a general sense.

A resume is a document that giver an overview of your skills, experiences, and achievements. You can list your education, your paid work, and your volunteer work. If you’ve held a leadership position in a club, received an award, or taken a relevant class, you might include that as well.

Save the document with a clear title. Include your name. Hiring managers receive a ton of documents titled “resume.” Including your name makes your file easier to find.

You don’t have to list every single job you’ve had. In fact, you should really only include the experience that’s relevant to the position. However, if you don’t have a lot of job experience, list everything, and do your best to make it relevant. That’s another use for the cover letter, as well.

Keep your job history to the last ten years.

Ideally a resume is just one page long, but two is acceptable. If your cover letter does run to two pages, include a header on the second page with your last name, the title of the document, and the page number. For example, my header would say “Luepke Resume Page 2.”

Use a professional-looking typeface such as Times New Roman or Arial, in an easy to read size. Single space the text. You don’t have to write out complete sentences. Use bullet points to divide up information; whoever looks at the resume will scan it quickly to see if you have the skills and experience needed.

At the top of the resume, write your name and contact info. Contact info generally consists of mailing address, phone number, and email.

From there, there are a number of ways to organize information. Microsoft Word has a variety of templates to choose from, and those are fine. The key is to be consistent, and make sure each entry looks the same.

As a student and new grad, start with your education. Don’t include your high school; the employer assumes you have graduated or have a GED. If you are working on a degree, include the expected graduation date. For example, you might have the heading “Education” and then “Portland State University, BA Economics, Expected June 2015.”

The next section is your job history. Start with the heading “Experience” or “Work Experience.” List the job title, company, location and the dates you worked there. The order the info is arranged in doesn’t really matter as long as it’s the same for each entry.

It’s helpful to have a master resume with every single job you’ve ever worked that you can then craft into a specific resume for each position. Likewise, make sure you have the actual address for each company. Many applications want the actual location of each company.

Under that info, use a bulleted list for your accomplishments and duties. If you won an award, created a new product, found a way to save money, include that. Include information relevant to the job listing. You don’t need to include a reason for leaving.

Arrange the entries in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent job. If you are still employed, write the start date and end with “Present.”

After that, you can include a section with a title like “Other Experience.” Here you can list volunteer experience or leadership positions in clubs. Follow the same format as your work experience.

You can also include a “skills” section that lists your skills, an “awards and honors” section that includes relevant awards and honors, and a “certificate and licenses” section that include relevant certificates and licenses.

The goal isn’t to list every single thing, only that which is relevant to the job listing. For example, if you were applying for an administrative assistant position, you might list the software you know (beyond Microsoft Office), how fast you type, or that you are bilingual.

Finally, make sure to proofread. It’s April 2014 as I write this, and we’re still at a point where there are 2-3 applicants for every one job. Hiring managers will look for any reason to narrow down an applicant pool. Don’t give them one. Look for typos and nonstandard usage. Have a friend look over it. Use Spell Check.

When emailing a resume, make sure to include a clear subject line such as “Application materials for XYZ job.” To be polite, I include a little note such as “Dear Hiring Manager, My cover letter and resume for XYZ job are attached. Thank you. Sincerely. . . .”

It does take practice to write a good resume. The two most important things to focus on are including relevant details and producing error-free work. Keep practicing.

Good luck! Words have power. Use them wisely.

Written and produced by Natasha Luepke

Music: “Eliezer’s Waltz” by Disparition