Top 10 Tips to Enhance Your Resume Today

We all know the story of the difficult job market over the past few years.

The job market has been shaken in ways that our country has not experienced since the great depression. We have been through recessions in the past, but these few years have been particularly painful for job seekers of all levels and ages.

Over the next 5 weeks I will be writing a series of postings to help guide you through the process of landing a job in this difficult market.

In this post, we will explore the top 10 best practices of resume writing.

Your resume still remains the most important first impression. I will explore in future posts how social media and networking will help you land a position, but even if you do all of the other things correctly a bad resume can kill your chances. 

Your resume most likely will be passed from HR to hiring managers and potential future co-workers, so it better stand out!

Here are the top 10 “low hanging fruits” that you can implement today to enhance your resume:

1. Include all of your contact information on top of the resume, including house phone, cell phone, address and email.
2. Include links to your professional profile on LinkedIn.
3. Make sure the “objective” section on your resume matches the job you are applying to! You may be applying to a number of jobs, so make sure to take the time and fix the objective to match the job you are applying to.
4. Don’t worry about going over one page! If you have had a long career, include all of the relevant jobs in your career.  It is quite alright to have a two to three page resume. No need to include every job since high school, but make sure to go back to the relevant jobs.
5. Include as much detail as possible for each relevant job.  It sends a bad impression if you only have two to three sentences of detail.  Include as much detail as possible!
6. Use Keywords! Today, most resumes will pass through Applicant Tracking Systems.  Make sure that you have enough detail and Keywords in your resume so that your resume will eventually reach human eyes.
7. Include dates (month and year) on all of your jobs and structure your resume from most recent on top.
8. Use the same format and font throughout the resume
9. Don’t be lazy!  Read the complete job description thoroughly and make sure to include any work that you have done that is mentioned in the job description.  Take the time to tailor your resume to match the job description.
10. Be Honest – Do not lie on your resume!

These tips are just scratching the surface of resume writing. There are many free resources out there so make sure to do your homework before hitting send! If you have any questions or would like advice, please feel free to comment below or contact me directly and I will be happy to help!

Joel Shapiro is president of Long Island based I.T. staffing and consulting firm JMS Technical Solutions, Inc. (www.jmstechsolutions.com).  He can be reached at jshapiro@jmstechsolutions.com.  Joel also moderates a growing international community of practice for digital decision makers in the North East.  In his free time, he enjoys running and traveling between Buffalo and Long Island to visit family.