Resume

     

Resume: An Overview

A resume is a formal document that a job applicant creates to itemize their qualifications for a position. A resume is usually accompanied by a customized cover letter in which the applicant expresses an interest in a specific job or company and draws attention to the most relevant specifics on the resume.

American job coaches insist that a resume should be only one or two pages in length. British job applicants traditionally are expected to produce a somewhat more detailed document, called a CV (curriculum vitae).

Understanding the Resume

A resume is almost always required for applicants to office jobs. They are the first step taken by corporate recruiters and hiring managers to identify candidates who might be invited to interview for a position.

Successful resumes highlight specific accomplishments applicants have achieved in former positions, such as cutting costs, transcending sales goals, increasing profits, and building out teams. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Resumes are now sent by email, not snail mail.
• The traditional one- to two-page limit stands, but nothing prevents you from attaching a brief video introduction or other illustration if it is relevant and enhances your presentation.
• It's smart to rewrite your resume to tailor it to a specific job you're seeking.

Changing Times for Resumes

It goes without saying that resumes these days are delivered as email attachments, not printed out and mailed.

Although the two-page maximum still stands, many applicants use the web to the max when it comes to attachments. Video introductions, charts, graphs, and other illustrations can make you stand out, as long as they're relevant and slickly made.

               

The Resume Heading

The heading on the resume should include not only your name, email address, and mobile phone number but your address on LinkedIn or another professional community and the address of your website or blog if you have one.

Be aware that any hiring manager will, as a matter of course, enter your name in the Google search field. Do a search on your own and see if you can optimize your own results or at least decently bury any youthful faux pas.