Career Resource Center

10 Resume Tips

1. Summarize qualifications

• Provide a summary of your experience at the top of your resume
• Highlight your abilities, special skills, and strengths
• It will be easy for the reader to find

2. Limit your resume to one page if practical

• List positions held in the past 10 years

3. List your achievements

• Try to put a dollar amount on your achievements – how you saved your last employer thousands of dollars if in fact you did
• Projects managed and/or completed

4. Clear objective

• Customize your objective based on the position you are applying for
• Don’t list what you want, rather what you can offer your potential employer

5. Terminology

• Be sure your terminology is up-to-date with current trends
• Avoid using acronyms that others may not be familiar with

6. Use keywords and nouns

• Using keywords throughout your resume will deliver more hits when applying through online job boards
• Keep the keywords in line with the position you are applying for, for example: Accounts Payable, Marketing, Manager, Engineer, etc.

7. Just out of college?

• List your education before any jobs that are not relevant
• List internships and volunteer experience in separate section

8. Make the file title useful

• For example: “IT Telecom Project Manager” or “Enterprise Software Sales Manager”

9. Layout and look

• Use one font throughout the entire document, ex: Times New Roman, Georgia, Tahoma, or Arial Narrow are all professional options
• Bold your headings (Objective, Work Experience, Education, etc.)
• Make your contact information easy to find – Top of the page, bold, 2 points bigger than the body of the document, and ACCURATE!
• Microsoft Word has a variety of templates available

10. Proofread

• Spelling and grammatical errors may cost you the job
• Have someone else review your resume
• Be open to feedback

10 Interview Tips

1. Research the company before your interview

• Visit the website, find out what their core product or services consist of
• Thoroughly read the job description and think about your past experience in performing each of the listed duties

2. Know where you are going

• Drive by the location the day before around the same time as your interview so you know what kind of traffic to expect
• You’ll have a better idea of how long it will take you to get there
• You can scope out the parking situation

3. If you’re always early, you’re never late

• Arrive 15 – 20 minutes early, there may be paperwork to fill out
• There is nothing worse than showing up late to an interview

4. You can never go wrong with a suit

• Invest in a suit that fits properly
• First impressions go along way
• Women: Apply make-up and jewelry conservatively
• Men & Women: Use perfume and cologne sparingly

5. Bring a hard copy of your resume to the interview

• Bring a couple extras in case you interview with more than one person
• Use a quality stock resume paper
• Most interviewers will allow you to keep a copy in front of you for your own reference

6. Don’t hold back on your answers

• Elaborate on your answers to yes/no questions but do not answer more than the question asked
• Provide examples of similar positions you’ve held and parallel skills
• Describe the similarities to things you have done that relate to the position they are describing to you
• Explain how you handle difficult situations

7. Ask Questions

• It shows that you have an inquiring mind and that you are truly interested in the position
• For example: “How soon do they plan to make a decision?” “Is there any reason they don’t feel you are qualified for the job?”
• Stay away from standard HR questions such as company benefits

8. Be Prepared to List your Strengths and Weaknesses

• This is a common interview question
• Don’t limit your strengths to personal characteristics – keep in mind your technical, creative, and analytical capabilities as well
• Use this as an opportunity to discuss things that weren’t brought up in the interview but you want to make sure they know about you
• List only weaknesses that that interviewer may view as a plus to their company

9. Don’t be afraid to…

• Brag about your accomplishments – you want to sell yourself!
• Ask your interviewer to repeat the question – you may answer incorrectly if you don’t.
• Smile, be positive, and upbeat

10. Follow up

• Express your interest in the position
• Send a thank you card or email – preferable both
• Don’t harass the interviewer with multiple phone calls – 2 forms of follow up are enough

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