Connect with us.

As a rule of thumb, keep resumes to one to two pages in length. If you have substantial experience, you might add an extra page or addendum to your resume. Please keep in mind, however, that most hiring managers take only a few seconds to scan a resume. If important skills and strengths related to the available position are not easily seen in this quick scan, you will have missed an opportunity.

See below for some things to consider when drafting each section of your resume.

This section identifies who you are and how to reach you. Depending on how your resume is accessed, you may include your full contact information or your email address only. Make sure to check regularly for voice and email messages. Experts recommend dedicating one phone number and, if including an email address, one email address for your job search and resume. Giving people a choice of mulitple ways to reach you creates more work for you and could create a situation that catches off-guard or allows you to miss an important message.

A Special Note about Email Addresses: When listing your email address, make sure it looks professional. You might want to set up a separate account that forwards your email to your main account, especially if you are posting your resume. Hotmail and Gmail are free and good options for this. To learn more about your email options, visit the Email Section of the Community Center.

Use this section to focus the reader on what you bring to the table. Keep it short, including a narrative of three to four sentences followed by bulleted statements. This section should describe your professional niche, present your key strengths and what contributions to an organization.

If you post your resume or apply for a position online, keywords matter. Employers and recruiters search online databases using keywords that apply to their open positions. In the past, experts recommended including a laundry list of keywords at the beginning of your resume -- since searches only reviewed the first 100 words of each resume. Today, however, searches work differently. Experts recommend both sprinkling keywords throughout your resume and including a list that helps focus the human reader on your best strengths. Use enough key words, both nouns and verbs, to clearly define your skills, knowledge, experience, education, and professional affiliations.

Scan Help Wanted Ads
You might find it helpful to analyze the wording in posted positions related to the job you seek. Make note of the words or terms used, and if they apply to you, include these in your resume. If you know someone in your occupation who recently landed a job, ask for a copy of his resume and make a note of the keywords you find.

A resume should focus on the last 20 years or 3 or 4 positions you have held. When listing work experience, make sure to include these five components:

1) Company Information – Company name, city and state.
2) Years of Employment.
3) Job Title – List your title and, if you had several titles, the years you held each title.
4) Job Summary (optional) – If the job title is not self-explanatory, define the job scope, budget and staff size associated with the position.
5) Accomplishments – Instead of listing job responsibilities, list one or two accomplishments per position held that showcase your uniqueness.

A Special Note on Accomplishments: Well written accomplishments include a challenge, action, and result. When possible, quantify your results in numbers or percentages for added power. For functional or combination format resumes, you will list your accomplishments for all positions within the appropriate skill set sections. For chronological resumes, you will list your accomplishments below each position heading.

This section includes the following:

1) Highest Level of Degree First
2) List Your Major (if relevant)
3) Year of Graduation  - Older workers may want to omit this.

For career relevant trainings and accomplishments outside of traditional work and education, list these under separate headings at the end of your resume. Noting the years involved is  optional.

Professional Development
This section would include special trainings, seminars, certificates or educational achievements. For seminars, include course title, institution and certificate, if any.

Professional Associations & Honors
This section would include relevant professional or civic associations. Include the name of the organization, offices help, awards or honors if relevant.

Military
Include name of service, years served, status and rank or specialty if relevant.

Special Skills
In this section, you might want to include additional languages spoken and technical knowledge and computer skills.