Ten Things to Keep in Mind for a Successful Resume

by Helen Redfield

1. Spell your name correctly, and use one name throughout
2. Use one font, in black, format it correctly and make it readable
3. Include all dates
4. Do not list answering phones, opening mail, making copies or sending faxes as “skills”;  they aren’t
5. Use spell check and then read the results, making sure to omit auto-correct errors
6. Use full formal sentences, capitalization, and proper punctuation; no acronyms, no emoticons
7. Do not include any social activities you may have participated in, in High School, or worse, Elementary School
8. Do not dictate what you want the company to do for you
9. Personalize the Objective to the position you are applying for (read the ad first)
10. Remember to actually attach your resume, with contact information, and a professional email address; i.e. not “slinkygal@hotmail”.  

If people would only do this, my job would be so much easier.  Truth is, maybe 2  out of ten actually do all 10!  One of the resumes today came in orange.  While I know orange is the new black, she also used about 6 different fonts, most of which were fancy script.  Gaaad!