Basic Principles of a Good Resume

Focus

There's probably no aspect of your resume more important to selling yourself to prospective employers than the benefits you've made to your previous employers. Keep this in mind as you prepare your resume. A good resume doesn't just describe duties and responsibilities. A good resume focuses on accomplishments and achievements. Tell prospective employers what you've done in your past and current jobs that's made a difference in your employers' bottom line. Maybe you increased sales, or reduced costs, or implemented new procedures, or streamlined existing procedures. Give this some careful thought. Stand out from the rest of the applicants by showing prospective employers how you do more than just take care of the "duties and responsibilities" of the position. Show them you have a history of going beyond that to make yourself a valuable asset to the company.

Length

A good resume is only as long as it needs to be to market its owner effectively. If it's too short, you may not be selling yourself effectively. It it's too long, you run the risk of prospective employers not reading it at all. One page is ideal, but if it takes two pages, that's okay too, as long as you've looked it over with a critical eye to make sure you've eliminated the "fluff" and zeroed in on what will sell you to prospective employers. You should also pay close attention to your format and layout so that you make effective use of the space available to you on the page.

Positive Attitude

A good resume projects a positive image. If possible, don't include any negative material on your resume at all. If that's not possible, try to soften the negative impact as much as possible. For example, if you're a recent college graduate and have a low overall grade point average, either don't list your GPA at all or list your upper division GPA or your GPA in your major instead, if those are higher. Just be sure to identify your GPA accurately (i.e., 3.7 in major, or 3.5 in Engineering, or 3.6 upper division). Watch your wording when describing your work experience. For example, compare these two statements:

• Assigned to work on a multi-million dollar marketing project
• Participated on a multi-million dollar marketing project

Conservative Approach

Don't go overboard on what I said in the previous section. Sure, it's important to project a positive image, but no one likes an over-confident, pompous, know-it-all. A good resume is positive and confident, but not smug.

Accuracy and Honesty

Don't guess. If you're not sure about your dates of employment or any other information on your resume, check it. One inaccuracy on your resume can make the rest of your information suspect. Check very carefully for grammatical and spelling errors. Honesty is even more important than accuracy, so be careful about telling the truth. You might be able to talk your way out of an honest mistake, but if you're caught in a lie, you're finished.

Organization

First, make sure everything on your resume has a good reason for being there. Second, make sure everything on your resume is arranged in an orderly and logical manner. Present your most important information first and follow through with the rest of your information in descending order of importance.

Appearance

Regardless of what your resume says, if it doesn't look nice, you're in trouble. A good resume is printed on quality paper, with text arranged in a pleasant manner. It is prepared with a type size that's easy to read (preferably 12 point, but no smaller than 10 point).