Introduction

A good resume is the gateway to your dream job. So when it comes time to interview, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve got a great resume prepared ahead of time. When filling your resume, here are some dos and don’ts to follow:

Keep it short and sweet.

• Keep it short. One page is standard, and you should stick to that if possible. If you have a lot of relevant experience, just list your most important positions and responsibilities on the top half of the page and the rest in reverse chronological order.
• Don’t include everything—you want to highlight your most recent or relevant experience. The point of a resume is not to show all the jobs you’ve ever held; it’s to prove that your skills are transferable into this particular position at this particular company. If any one bullet point doesn’t directly relate to what this position requires or why you’re qualified for it, leave it off—it might be fine for another job but will distract from your qualifications here!

Make it relevant for the job.

Make sure your resume is relevant to the job you are applying for.

If you can, find out what skills are needed for the job and highlight them in your resume. For example, if it has been a while since you’ve worked as a receptionist, mentioning that you are proficient at MS Office may not be very useful. However, if the company needs someone who can use Photoshop to create graphics for their website or brochures, including this information will make your application stand out from others who don’t have it listed on their resumes. If there is something that really makes one of your qualifications stand out, include it!

Think about what work experience would be most relevant to this position and include only that information on your resume–more about this later in another section (Section 3). Don’t include irrelevant information!

Be honest and accurate.

Your resume is your first impression. It should be treated as a snapshot of your professional life and a marketing tool.

Your resume should be a one-page summary of who you are, what you have done, and how it will benefit the company.

To make an impact, your resume must show:

• Your skills and experiences (highlighted)
• The results of those skills (the numbers)
• How these results were achieved (the context).

Prioritize your most recent experience.

You should prioritize your most recent experience because it’s the most relevant to the position you’re applying for. As much as we wish it weren’t true, hiring managers are busy people who don’t have time to read all about your previous jobs.

But there are exceptions! If you’re applying for a job that requires certain skills or experience (like an executive assistant position), older work experiences could be just as important as more recent ones. In this case, it’s okay to include them on your resume along with details about how they relate to the job.

Just be sure that any dates included in those entries are relevant—for example: “Led a team of five during year 2.” If they aren’t related back specifically to this role or company though (such as mentioning when you went backpacking through Europe), consider leaving them off entirely—or else list only the month and year instead of using specific dates like “June 2017”.

Emphasize skills that are relevant to the job.

If you’re applying for a job, make sure that the skills that are most relevant to that position are highlighted. Also, if you have any relevant experience, make sure to include it!

If you don’t have any relevant experience and are trying to transfer skills from other jobs or hobbies, think about what new responsibilities could be added on top of your current role. For example, if an employer is looking for someone with customer service skills but doesn’t require previous experience in this area, consider adding some extra responsibilities into your resume like “handled customer complaints” or “created training guide for new employees.”

Keep it up-to-date.

Make sure it’s up-to-date.

The most important thing you can do to ensure that your resume is a good match for the job you’re applying for is to keep it up-to-date with everything relevant about your work history and skillset. The last thing you want to happen is for an employer to read through your resume only to discover that some of the information doesn’t match their expectations or needs—and then end up losing the job opportunity because they didn’t think you were right for them!

If there are any major changes in your life that would affect how well suited you are for a particular position (e.g., new skills gained, promotions), make sure those are listed on your resume as well so employers know what they need from someone like yourself when hiring them. To ensure accuracy in general, check over each section of your document before submitting it: look at keywords used throughout; make sure dates match up correctly; don’t forget any accomplishments or experiences that might be relevant here!

Avoid cliches and jargon.

A resume is an advertisement for yourself and your skills. The first impression you give to an employer is crucial to landing that interview. While it’s important to focus on selling yourself, avoid cliches and jargon.

“People person” or “hard worker,” for example, are overused phrases that don’t really tell the employer anything about you. Just like any other advertisement, keep your resume focused on what matters: why you’re a good fit for this job and how your experience can make them money by increasing productivity or sales figures.

On the other hand, words like “caring” and “team player” are meaningless in this context because they could apply to any candidate who has ever been employed before—which is basically everyone!

Focus on the positive.

When you’re creating your resume, it’s important to focus on the positive. Instead of listing all of the different jobs you’ve had over the years and putting job duties first, focus instead on your accomplishments. This means that instead of saying “Responsible for ensuring customer satisfaction,” say something like “Created a new customer service program that increased customer satisfaction by 20%.”

Also, don’t be afraid to list your strengths and skills in an easy-to-read format at the top of your resume. For example: “Spoke three languages” or “Able to work well under pressure.” If it makes sense for you (and is relevant), also add any industry certifications or awards you’ve received while working as a sales rep in pharmaceuticals.

Be honest about gaps in employment history.

If you have a gap in your employment history, it’s important to be honest about the reason. It might be because of illness or family issues, or it might be due to unemployment after you were laid off by your last employer. If there’s anything that could make an employer question your commitment and reliability, don’t try to hide it!

If you’re dealing with a gap in employment history, there are various ways to explain it:

• Be honest—if you were sick or caring for a sick loved one during that time period, say so! This can help show an interviewer that they can depend on you when things get tough.
• Give some context—you may have had multiple jobs between jobs if you changed industries; this could indicate a desire for growth and learning new skills. It also shows consistency in work ethic across industries (and thus might not be viewed negatively).
• Put things into perspective—if an interviewer has never had any gaps in their own career path when asking about yours, they may not understand how long these periods can actually last and how difficult they can be financially (even though most people eventually get back on their feet). By explaining what happened during those times instead of hiding them away like something shameful or embarrassing, there’s less chance that someone will judge you harshly without understanding why these things occurred at all!

If you follow these tips, your resume will be so good you won’t want to let it go!

• Keep a copy on your computer.
• Keep a copy in the cloud.
• Keep a copy in your email, because you might need it to send out to employers or recruiters later.
• Keep a copy on a USB, so if something happens to your computer or laptop, you can still access it from another device (and save yourself from having to re-type everything). If there’s no place that feels safe enough for this data, then maybe look into getting a hard drive—they’re pretty cheap these days and they’re just as reliable as any other storage device!
• Make sure that whatever device(s) you store your resume on is backed up somewhere else too: online cloud storage services like DropBox or Google Drive are good options for this purpose since they make sharing files very easy and convenient. Just remember not only what company created the service but also whether its privacy policy allows them access over user data when asked by law enforcement groups such as police departments looking for criminals who may have used their service with ill intent against innocent citizens like us! So please remember those things before deciding which platform works best for keeping our personal information safe from prying eyes who could be interested in reading them due solely on curiosity alone (we hope!). It should go without saying that we wouldn’t want anything bad happening while using these programs either; hopefully we’ll never need those backups but they exist nonetheless thanks largely due their reliability during times where normal methods fail us unexpectedly during unexpected events such

Conclusion

If you’re applying for a job, you have your best shot at being hired if your resume is an accurate representation of your professional experience. If not, then you will likely be passed over for someone else with similar qualifications but a more polished resume. While it may seem daunting at first glance, there are plenty of ways to improve your resume and get it ready for that all-important job interview. It’s just a matter of knowing where to start!