These resume-writing guidelines apply to every individual, regardless of the industry, professional level or job of interest.

You should …

• Customize your resume
  • Tailor resume for each position.
  • Focus on employer's needs, identifying how individual skills & accomplishments meet/exceed their requirement.

• Practice brevity - keep it short
  

  • Make resumes one to two pages long.
  • Write qualifications & accomplishments in concise bullet points that can be read quickly.
  • Select words with care and avoid run-on sentences. Read every sentence out loud. If you find yourself gasping for breath, break the sentence in two.

• Showcase your achievements
  

  • Mention at least two or three of your top achievements within the top third of page one–this is the most valuable real estate on your resume.

• Use action words
  

  • To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, presented, etc.

• Match your resume with the position
  

  • Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume.

• Make it readable
  

  • Select an easy-to-read font & type size–no less than 11 points.
  • Leave some white space, rather than a full page of text, with no breaks.
  • Use a standard font if sending resume via e-mail. And, to preserve formatting, send the resume as an attachment, rather than cutting and pasting into the e-mail text box.

• Edit & proof your resume
  

  • Read resumes carefully–check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
  • Send to friends, a mentor or a career counselor to review.

• Think quality
  

  • Use good quality paper stock.
  • Select white or cream-colored paper.