First Impression: Your Resume

Your resume is your first introduction to your potential future employer. What does it look like? Seriously, put it in front of you and what do you see? Do you see a page full of words? Is there any white space? Is anything bolded? Do things line up? Your recruiter will take most likely less than 10 seconds to look at your resume and decide if it deserves more interest. It needs to be aesthetically appealing.

A few tips

Bold your name at the top. Bold your company names. Paraphrase what you’ve done – never use full sentences. Use the key words that are part of the job description you are applying for. Do you know almost every company has what is called and Applicant Tracking System - ATS. This make the recruiter’s job so much easier. He/she can go to the ATS, put in a few key words and instantly see resumes that have those key words included. Make sure you have those words somewhere in your resume. Make sure your resume isn’t a book. You should be able to tell your story in no more than 2 pages - 1 ideally. It’s not necessary to go back to your McDonalds days from high school. It’s generally sufficient to go back about 10 years with your employment history. At the end of your history you can add a line that could say something like - prior to 2008 spent many years in the financial services industry.

Like your elevator speech, your resume should be short and exact. Don’t forget your brand. What do you want to the employer to think about you as he/she reviews your resume. Your resume tells your story. What’s yours?