Writing a Resume: Making a Good First Impression

 One of the most important aspects of your job search is your resume. It’s the first impression you will make on a potential employer and follows you through the interviewing process. Resume advice varies from book-to-book and from search firm to search firm. As part of our process, we work with candidates to develop a resume we know will help our clients in their decision-making process. In this market, when a single job posting in a newspaper or on the internet brings in hundreds of resumes, the most important thing you can do is make your resume easy to read. Here are some basic guidelines for an administrative support resume:

1. Use only one font throughout your resume. The temptation is to be creative, but stick with a basic, easy-to-read font, using italic or bold typeface when something needs to be emphasized.

2. Do not use personal photos, clip art, or fancy graphics.

3. Keep your resume under two pages. Allow your experience to speak for itself. Keep it to one page if you can accurately and concisely sum up your experience in that length.

4. Leave off extraneous information such as an objective and “References Upon Request”. It is assumed that your objective is to get a job and that if an employer asked for references, you’d be able to supply them.

5. Ensure that your contact information shows at the top of every page of your resume. With hundreds of resumes floating across a hiring manager’s desk, loose, unidentifiable sheets can end up in the recycling bin.

6. If you have an e-mail address in your contact information, ensure that it is appropriate for professional usage (e.g. crazyjulie@msn.com would NOT be appropriate).

7. List your WORK EXPERIENCE, most recent first and work backwards. Include the company name, your job title, the location, the dates, and a brief summary of your position responsibilities. Do not separate your duties and responsibilities from the job in which you did them (as in the oft-touted skills-based resume). Don’t make a potential employer have to work to figure out where you did what and when.

8. If you held multiple positions at a single company, clearly indicate the full time that you were there and de-emphasize the dates you were in each position. Employers want to see longevity and they need to be able to see it at a glance.

9. If you spent 1-2 years at a company, indicate the months in which you started and left.

10. List only current software under your COMPUTER SKILLS and indicate when software programs are industry specific.

11. Under EDUCATION, list only schools that are post-secondary education. If you have no post-secondary education, leave the education header off your resume. If you attended an institution, but did not complete a degree or certification, list the time spent, not the dates (i.e. 1 year). Use an end date for completion of a degree or certification. It is acceptable to put a projected graduation date as well, but only if it will be within the next year.

12. Put soft skills such as “responsible, people-oriented, go-getter” in your cover letter and not your resume, including concrete examples of what you mean.

13. Only list personal interests or activities that are relevant to the job you are applying to (i.e. horseback riding is not relevant, whereas bookkeeping for a charitable organization might be).

14. List only current memberships or awards, unless past information is relevant to the position you are applying for.

15.  MOST IMPORTANTLY: Proofread your resume, have your friends or family proofread your resume and proofread it again! Some employers and a few search firms won’t give a candidate a second glance if there are typographical errors in the resume, cover letter, or introductory e-mail. 

 © 2007 Personnel Directions, Inc.