WAY Effective Resume Writing Checklist

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Effective Resume Writing - Your Checklist for Review

Effective resume writing begins (and ends) with a review of how you want to be seen by your prospective employer when he or she first sees your resume. In this lens I will outline a few important questions to ask yourself when you review your resume - whether it's an old resume or one you've just started working on.

While I realize that we cannot fit a "book" here on our lens, it is my sincere hope that you gain some insight regarding some of the important "finer points" to resume development. Please see some of my other lenses (listed below this lens) for information on other aspects of resume writing, and if you are REALLY stuck, and need more immediate help, please visit www.CreatingAResume.info.

Effective Resume Writing 101 

How good (or bad) is my resume, really? Tick...Tick... You've got 10 seconds!

When beginning to use effective resume writing techniques, begin by asking yourself this:
If I take only 5 - 10 seconds to scan my resume, what is my first impression of myself?

In other words, if the hiring staff were looking at your resume right now, who are they "seeing?"

Are they seeing someone who is a definite candidate for an interview? Or, are they seeing someone who is defined by whatever last job he or she had? Hmmm.....

The answer you are looking for is: "Wow! They definitely see me as the perfect person to bring in for an interview!"

Another question you can ask yourself is:
"If I'm looking for a job that pays $20/hour, is my resume reflecting a $20/hour employee? Or do I appear to be a $10/hour employee?"

The obvious answer is that you want to appear worthy of the $20/hour. In order to do that, you need to be worthy of the $20/hour position.

If you use the "headline technique" and summary or "How I can help you..." statement right at the top of the resume, with confidence and power, you can gain lots of points here (see my other lenses for more info on that - listed below).

More Effective Resume Writing Tips 

Omit Needless Words... You know... Unneccessary, silly, redundant, overused, needless...

"Omit needless words" was grand advice written many, many years ago in a classic little book by Strunk & White called "Elements of Style."

You can pick this little gem up in any bookstore or online. Get a copy of it! And nowhere is this advice more appropriate than with effective resume writing (well, maybe it's just as appropriate in other places too...) :)

Paragraphs are out. White space and bullet points are in.

Cluttered text and tiny fonts (to wrongly try to fit a resume all on one page) are definitely OUT.

Ask yourself this as you stare at your resume for the thousandth time:
"If I were a hiring director, would I be reaching for reading glasses when I look at this resume? Am I becoming mesmerized (in a bad way) and sleepy just trying to get through a single line on my resume?"

Or...

Is my resume easy on the eyes? Am I using a nice 12-point font that is easy to read (Read this to say: Do NOT use fancy fonts! Standard, professional fonts are the key. If I could figure out how to show it to you here on Squidoo, I'd give examples!)

"Am I cutting straight to the point? Am I communicating with clear, concise, non-wordy accomplishments and qualifications?

It's ok to use short, clipped statements! Use action verbs! I've said this in other lenses - but it bears repeating here:
Instead of:
"I was in charge of a quarter-million dollar budget..." (oh la dee dah..ho humm)

Try this:
"Managed a $250,000 budget..." (Wow! [I might be saying to myself] That's a boatload of money this person managed!)

Also, did you note the action verb "managed?" Always use action words!

Instead of:
"I wrote numerous articles on strength training that were published in several on-line publications..."

Try this:
"Wrote and published 15 articles related to strength training for 7 on-line publications..."

Which brings me to...

Another Checkpoint for Effective Resume Writing 

Easy Does It...

Along with being easy on the eyes, another keystone of effective resume writing has to do with being easy to read.

I realize that's a pretty broad statement, and some of you might be saying, "Hey, didn't you just say that??" Ok. I'm really not trying to belong to the Department of Redundancy Department...

Let me more or less lump it all together for you:

1) Lots of "white space" so that there is no straining to see what you've written.

2) Well defined categories such as:
  • Your headline/title/subtitle
  • Statement or Summary
  • Accomplishments
  • Qualifications
  • Relevant Employment History
  • Education


    • 3) Nice, bulleted format (no paragraphs)

    4) Language is understandable.     Are you saying what you mean, and do you mean what you say?

    5) Action verbs and tone versus passive, ho-hum language (Simply type in "action verbs" or "resume action words" into your favorite online search engine and you'll have instant access to hundreds of terms!)

    6) Quantifiable accomplishments     ("15 articles" versus "several articles")

    7) Spell checked and human-spell-checked (your spell checker might not notice that you used "it's" when you should have used "its"... by the way, quick tip for everyone! You ONLY use it's when you mean "it is." No exceptions. Ever. But that's a topic for a later lens...

    Ask yourself:
    Would YOU bring yourself in for an interview based on what you saw in the first 5 or 10 seconds?

    If you can get your resume to match these points, you'll stand a good chance of getting the hiring director's attention - and the interview! Congratulations! :)

    I hope this helps!

    Thanks for reading, and be sure to mosey on over to www.CreatingAResume.info for great effective resume writing tools!

    Do you have tips for others who might be needing effective resume writing help? 

    If you have come across any effective resume writing tips or advice, feel free to share!

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    Here are a Few More of my Lenses about Effective Resume Writing! 

    Forgive me if you've already read all this stuff about me. I'm not really comfortable presenting "about me" or "about my work" type stuff (heck of a thing to say for a resume writer, huh? LOL!) But, when I first started giving others resume writing help (since about 2000 or so), I really only had the basics down, and a lot of that was pretty old-fashioned stuff: Name/Address... Objective... Chronological Listing of Employment History with "Responsibilities included..." blah... blah... blah.

    Obviously I've learned a LOT since then! As I mention in some of my other lenses, my career coaching library has dozens of books (not counting the ones I've sold at my yard sales LOL! - ok... old joke...). I truly DO have a lot of effective resume writing reference materials regarding what I've learned along the way.

    It truly is my hope that some of the tips I offer in these other lenses will help you avoid the learning curve I experienced!
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    Effective Resume Writing Help 

    Get effective resume writing help or even just a few tips for writing a resume - and share your own ideas about creating a resume too! We can all learn from one another!

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