What You Should, and Shouldn't, Have on Your Resume

For a long time resumes stayed the same.  It was a list of jobs you'd held, hopefully not too many, with a list of duties you performed at each.  Not too many jobs was considered a good thing.  It showed how stable you were.  The ideal resume was one page, with your name, address and phone number listed at the top.  Easy.  And simple.  




Like everything else on this planet, the resume has evolved.  Rather than being a simple list of job duties with your contact information, it's turned into your own personal marketing sheet.  It has to sell a product.  You.  And a short, boring list of skills isn't going to do the job.  It has to be interesting and engaging.  It has to be nice to look at and well organized.  And most importantly, it has to list what you've actually done with all those job skills.  And it has to be done in a way that makes the reader want to meet you.

It's a tall order for anyone.  Your best bet is to have it done professionally.  Then you can see yourself and your career through someone else's eyes.  Seeing your career from another person's perspective will show you how much more accomplished and impressive you actually are.  Most of us are pretty humble and see our accomplishments as just doing our job.  A fresh, outside perspective can highlight the extraordinary things you've done that you hadn't noticed.  It's ok.  You were too busy doing it to notice that you were doing something special.  That's actually a good thing.

But if you want to do it yourself, here's what you should definitely include.  And what you shouldn't.

Include:

1.  A brief, descriptive paragraph at the top of your resume just under your name.  Use this to talk about your great qualities, sell your product.  It doesn't have to be complicated, short phrases and incomplete sentences are fine.  Just make sure it makes sense.

2.  A short paragraph at the beginning of each job you list that highlights your main accomplishments.  Make it brief but descriptive.  Show the contributions you've made in the past and what you can offer to your new employer.

3.  It's ok to have more than one page.  The standard now is two pages.  People have more jobs over their career than they used to.  It's just how the job market is.  No one stays for 30 years at the same company, anymore.  If you're one of those rare few, expect that people will assume you've made some sort of arrangement with one dark force or another.

Do not include your full address.  Each of us has, on average, 3 different ways to be contacted.  You have email, your phone and your LinkedIn account.  If you don't have all 3 of these at this point, call us.  Seriously.  You need some help.

But don't put your street address.  Maybe put what city you live in but leave off the rest.  Besides taking up space it's completely useless.  No one is going to take the hint and write you a letter.  It isn't happening.  Ever.  

Put some of these suggestions into practice on your resume and you should start to see better results.  The very worst that will happen is that your resume will look and feel more modern and in line with current job market expectations of applicants.  Which makes you look and feel more modern, too.  But if you need help, we're always here.