Get the job you want with an effective resume

June 16, 2008 Resumes No Comments

While many job seekers now understand the relevance of a good resume to the process of getting a job, there is still some uncertainty as to what exactly makes a good resume. The first basic thing people need to understand about a resume’s purpose is that it has one – to get you an interview.

The resume is a sales tool designed to sell your qualifications impressively enough to make a desired employer want to interview you. Thus, it is crucial that the resume be a concise, but high impact document with quality selling points. It does not and should not be used to say everything about you as that can become overwhelming to employers who are already overwhelmed by the average 120 resumes they see for each position.

So what makes a resume effective at accomplishing this purpose of helping you get the job interview? There are limitless details and fine points that could be mentioned, but for our purposes, let’s focus on a couple key factors that help a resume sell, but that are often misunderstood by job prospects:

      A resume can only be one page – Do not misunderstand the point here. Concise resumes are required. However, in today’s human resources environment, it is perfectly acceptable for experienced or senior level job applicants to have a resume that extends to two pages. Using two pages is only recommended when the content fills two pages completely, and when it is impacting enough to justify a second page. It is certainly better to offer one high impact resume page than two mediocre pages. Also, keep in mind that while you might have two good pages, a quick resume screen may only allow an employer to skim through the first page. Therefore, make the first page the most recent and the most beneficial.

      Presentation does matter – This is an extremely important point that is widely undervalued by job applicants, and often in resume service providers. The aesthetic appeal of your resume, including proper use of margins, white space, line spacing, and more, can make the difference between an effective resume sell and a resume that gets tossed. If a busy executive is sorting through a pile of resumes, one that has used brute force to cram tons of content into one page might be too overwhelming at first glance to even justify a read. Do not let your resume get thrown out because it is scary to look at!