The resume: a job searcher’s best friend and worst enemy. Absolutely crucial in distinguishing yourself from the back and getting the job you want, but difficult to make stand out in itself—after all, it is just a list of jobs, degrees and awards. With this series, we’ll teach you how to build the world’s best resume and increase your chances of getting noticed by employers and recruiters.
The first and most important thing you should keep in mind when building your resume is simplicity. You want clean lines, a traditional font (really, there’s no reason to use anything besides Times New Roman) and only the necessary information—meaning your name, contact info, relevant jobs and skills, your diplomas, and any honors you may have received. Lots of people assume that the best way to get noticed is to make their resume flashy—a glossy headshot, testimonials from past clients, color-coded job titles. But there’s no better way to get your application thrown out than to make your resume look like a gaming website from the 90s. The only colors you should use, ever, are black and blue (and blue only for links to publications or portfolios).
Another common mistake is to assume that the longer a resume is, the more impressive it looks. If you’ve been in an industry for less than 10 years, your resume should never be longer than a couple of pages. And, if you can, it’s always good to shorten it even further. A one-page resume, provided it contains all the important information, will be a selling point in itself: it means you can be concise without cutting out crucial details. A good way to trim the fat is by removing jobs older than a couple of years. It might be tough to let go of that internship you had in college, but if that’s proudly featured on your resume it may look to employers like you haven’t done much since then.
It’s also easy to assume that if you had an impressive job in one field, it’ll transfer to another. Maybe you worked at a big bank for a year before deciding it wasn’t for you and you want to pursue library science. Great! Keep the bank job on there if it was your most recent job—it wouldn’t do to leave a year-long blank in your employment history—but maybe cut out your other finance-related jobs.
This brings up another problem. If you are switching fields, a difficult proposition no matter what, then how should you get relevant experience? We have just the thing for you! Check out our post, “Why Volunteering Could Be the Next Step Towards Your Dream Job.” In the case of this hypothetical aspiring librarian, volunteering at a library is a great way to add relevant experience during the gap between jobs! If you do it right, it will also help you cut down on old entries in your resume.
So start writing that resume! And remember—Keep It Simple, Searcher! Click here to view: Jobs in Albany