Resume Writing Tips: Important Do's and Don'ts

Your resume is one of the most important documents you will ever write in your career. If you are able to craft it well, it has the potential to open the door to a challenging and rewarding employment opportunity. If you are less skillful, you will find it harder to show a hiring manager that you are the stellar candidate that you are.

This document is used to get you an invitation for a personal interview. The real work to get you hired happens when you sit down and answer the interviewer's questions. Most hiring managers don't take the time to read a candidate's resume in detail before making a decision about whether to consider him or her further or not. At best, you have less than a minute to impress this person and get to the next round in the decision-making process. Making sure your resume is well structured will go a long way toward increasing your chances of being invited for that all-important interview.

Writing Your Contact Information

• Do put your contact information clearly at the top of the page. Make sure a prospective employer has a way to get in touch with you.
• Don't include your cell number if it you are concerned about receiving a call about an interview while you are at work. The employer can leave a message for you at home.

• Do have a basic e-mail address that for your job search. This is not the time to be cute or funny.
• Don't use something like sexyeyes@ or sirdrunksalot@ as your contact name. Writing such things is not professional.
• Use yourname@yourISP or get a free e-mail account from Gmail or Yahoo while you are job hunting.

Writing Your Resume Profile

A resume profile should appear next on the page. It reads a bit like a personal ad and focuses on what you can do for an employer.

Do list your key abilities, such as the highest degree you have attained and your level of experience.rnDo list your greatest accomplishments.rnDo answer the question, "Who is this person?" in two or three sentences.

• Don't be vague in this part of your resume.
• Don't use a specific job title.

Writing about Accomplishments

The next section of your resume should include a list of accomplishments. A prospective employer is interested in finding out how much you have contributed to your previous employer’s success.

Do think, "show, don't tell" when it comes to sharing your accomplishments. Use specific sales figures, percentages or units whenever possible.rnDon't exaggerate or be anything but truthful about your past. Employers will check the information you have provided and being creative may cost you a job offer or your job if the truth comes to light after you have been hired.

Writing about Work Experience

List your previous employment, starting with your most recent job first. Keep in mind that the hiring manager is more interested in what you actually did, than on the title you held.

Do add a second (more accurate) job title if the official one did not truly reflect the position you held. If you were the head cashier for a store but also acted as night manager on the late shift, list both titles on your resume.

Do share the most detail for your current job. Ideally, your resume should look like a reverse pyramid. The further back you go in employment history, the shorter the description should be.

Don't forget writing about accomplishments in your previous jobs. You will want to show the employer that you did more than just the minimum to stay employed.

Writing about Education

Next, tell the hiring manager where you went to school and the level of education you have completed.

Do list the full name of the college and the name of the program you were enrolled in. Unless you are a new graduate (less than five years of work experience), you don't need to list the year of graduation.

Don't list where you went to high school unless this is the highest level of education you completed.

By following these suggestions for resume writing structuring Do's and Don'ts you will have a much better chance of being invited for a personal interview.