Resume First Aid

Increase your chances of getting that job!

Your resume has only a few moments to grab the reader's attention — or end up in the garbage. A strong resume needs a solid foundation, and no amount of puffery or trickery can hide poor organization.

Keep it simple:

Objective: Skip it! Give the reader a summary instead, listing a brief description of your accomplishments tailored to the specific position you are applying to.

Experience: List your experience in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job first. If your latest experience wasn't the most impressive, keep it brief and move on to the experience relevant to the job you are applying to. Include the company name, location, your title, and dates of employment.

Keep in mind your dates of employment and college information must be precise. Misleading information can jeopardize your chances of securing that new opportunity or be "cause" for immediate dismissal.

Contact information: No matter how good your resume looks, if the reader can't contact you, they will move on to the next resume. List your contact information at the top of the resume. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number and email address. If you have a personal web site, include the URL only if the site shows off your skills for the position you are applying to.