Also known as a job resume, a resume is a brief written summary of a job applicant’s past employment history, education, and other pertinent information.

How are resumes used?

Resumes are used to make a favorable impression on a prospective employer. Your resume is often the first impression a potential employer has of you. For this reason, it is often referred to as one of the most crucial steps taken during a job search.

Why is the resume important?

Without a favorable initial impression, a prospective employer is likely to stop considering you as a suitable candidate for the job on offer and move on to other candidates who have provided better resumes. Think of a resume as a tool for marketing yourself. It’s more than just a document: It outlines your background, your skills, and your education so that a potential employer is quickly and easily able to see how your individual experiences can contribute to a company’s success.

If you’ve never written a resume, don’t worry because the following article will sensitize you with the tips and tricks that you need to follow while preparing your resume.

Here are a few rules for resume writing:

Be concise:

You’ve probably heard in the past that a resume should never be more than one page. While some experts no longer offer that recommendation, you should still make your document as focused and concise as possible.

Triple-check for typos:

This isn’t exactly a new rule, but it’s one that a surprising number of people ignore. If your resume is riddled with spelling or grammatical errors, you’re not putting your best foot forward. Make sure your copy is clean, not only by running a spell checker but also by asking several trusted friends to review it. You have no excuse for anything less than perfection in this regard.

Ditch the formatting:

In the past, you may have spent hours coming up with a unique and fancy design for your resume. Don’t waste your time on that when building a new version, unless you’re looking for work in creative or design fields.
Stick to basic formattings, such as using either the Times New Roman or Arial font at no smaller than 10 points. This will make it easy to read and ensure that your resume makes it through the common automated resume scanners used by many HR departments.

Don’t include references:

Most people listed at least three references on their resumes in the past, but a CareerUp piece says you should ditch them now. “You are looking for recruiters to talk to you, not your references,” the article says. “Speaking to references is further into the process, and when it gets to that point they will reach out to you and ask for those names.”

Make it easy to access:

You may think all company recruiters can easily open a Word doc, but if they have different versions of the software, it could mess up even your simple formatting. That could confuse recruiters or waste their time, leading them to throw your resume into the virtual trash. Instead, offer a PDF that is simple, clean, and easy to open.

Remember LinkedIn:

While you’re spending time updating your resume, you should also take a few minutes to make sure your LinkedIn profile is strong and accurate. In fact, you may want to include your LinkedIn address with your other contact information on your resume.
Hiring managers are bound to check your online profile, and they’ll appreciate it if you make that easy for them.

Quantify your accomplishments.

“Numbers and data bring your work experience to life and help to hire managers to envision the potential impact you could have in their organization,” says an article from Indeed. “When you can, back up your achievements with real data to boost your credibility and add informative detail to your resume.”