Preparing a Professional Resume

When preparing for a first encounter with someone of importance, people desire to make a good impression. Toward this end, extra time may be spent in grooming. We will seek to pick the right words, ask the right questions, use appropriate body language, etc. All of these aspects are important because a person will never get a second chance to make a good first impression. In the job market, this first impression happens most often through a resume or CV (  curriculum   vitae ). Like a personal meeting, great attention and effort should be invested into a resume to make it successful.

The purpose of a resume is to advance the job search to the next stage-an interview. Though the document will not secure a job in most cases, it is an essential first step to begin a process that hopefully will end with a successful result.

For the person preparing and submitting the resume, it is a tool to move forward. However, for the manager reviewing the resume it is a quick screening tool to determine whether or not to spend more time on a job candidate. Managers that review numerous resumes generally develop a screening process that allows them to separate out the job applicants for interview or those to refuse. The amount of time a manager spends reviewing a resume varies, however, some managers spend as little as 7 seconds on this task. With so little time for the job applicant’s biographical document to make a positive first impression, it is imperative that a person work hard to communicate well in this piece.

Following are some key points to work through to help improve the overall impression:

The document should not exceed one page with normal margins and normal font size. Though there may be exceptions to this in some cases, generally speaking, brevity is preferred by managers. Including the right pieces of information are necessary to get to the interview stage. Just as important, though is selecting the information to leave out. A candidate demonstrates their decision-making ability by determining what information to omit. The content that is or is not in a resume or CV begins to tell the manager about the candidate’s work style and ability. The information that is contained in the document should demonstrate a candidate’s ability to perform well in some aspects of the job that they are pursuing.

Arranging the pertinent information in a logical, systematic manner demonstrates a candidate’s logic and ability to organize information. This hierarchy of information should list things both in order of importance and be chronologically consistent. To start developing the hierarchy of information, it may be helpful to develop an outline. (See example.) The most important points should be listed first. For example, if a candidate has little work experience that is not in a related field to the job they are pursuing, then their university education is more important than work experience. However, if aspects of their work experience are relevant, then this information should rise above education in the hierarchy of information.

The resume objective should answer the question, “Why did you send me this resume?” This is the place where the job applicant states their reason(s) for pursuing a job. As a result, this is also where an individual begins communicating their values. The objective should share about why is this position interesting for the candidate and why should the candidate be a desirable employee for the company. Each resume sent out should have the objective clearly oriented to that company and the position an individual is pursuing. Here are a couple of examples of an objective for resume or CV use.

To obtain a challenging position utilizing my strengths and experience to work with people in an atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development.

To promote the mission, vision and values of a company by utilizing my experience, expertise and enthusiasm.

When writing the copy for each work experience entry, it is important to use active, demonstrative, and descriptive text. The first word in the entry should communicate action. Generally this will be a verb in the form of a gerund. For example, instead of writing “I worked as a sales representative….”, it would be much more effective to put “Growing sales by 40% over two years, I managed key accounts in the FMCG industry….” Putting your information in this format communicates to employers that you understand the core elements of business and that you are a person that gets things done. When putting specific information clearly showing results, it becomes unnecessary-and possibly even counter-productive-to put general information about your characteristics or abilities at another point in the resume in the form of a list. This saves space for more important information as the skills are not claims a person is making, but something demonstrated by past action. Communicate with integrity that you have been responsible for creating a new program, managing people, increasing efficiency, introducing new concepts, attracting new customers, or something else that the employer desires for a person in that position to achieve and you will advance your cause significantly. If a candidate has not had opportunities to demonstrate tangible successes in their career yet, then it is helpful to demonstrate transferable skills. In this case it is helpful to communicate team work, experience working with data, etc. To prepare a good resume or CV, it is important to spend the time working on how you can market yourself and what aspects of this would be of value for a specific potential employer.

The design of the document should appeal to others. While a resume is not a Michelangelo painting, it is also not a copious report. Several important design elements to be aware of include:

White space – It is important to have an attractive design to the document. No one is required to read your resume or CV. It is helpful for you to make it appealing by having an appropriate amount of quality information. This document is not a biography, however. In putting only the most important information in the best form, you should have margins that are blank with plenty of space. There should be some space in between entries and categories of information to help with setting apart important information. It may be helpful on this point to keep different versions of your document and compare them to see differences in what is appealing to the eye in terms of design and white space. Then see how you can further improve your effort.

Hierarchy of information and “color” – Using the sample outline helps greatly to organize information in order and rank of importance. As this begins to take shape, your document should begin to get different colors or different shades of gray. When holding the document a little ways away, the boldness or color of the text should communicate the importance of the item. Once again this can be done with white space such as the amount of space an item is inset from the margin as well as the size and type of font.

Design flow – Both English and Russian are read from the top of the page to the bottom and from the left side to the right. As a result, we have naturally become accustomed to looking at information in this direction-top-left to bottom-right. It is helpful to design in the way that the eye has been trained to move. At one of the later drafts of a resume or CV, it is helpful to observe the flow of information. Ensure that the elements naturally guide the eye from the top-left to the bottom-right.

Fonts – In design, less is often more. With fonts, this is true. Generally, it is best to use only two fonts. This could be one that is sans-serif for major headings and a serif font for information. Because serif fonts help guide the eye along the line of text with the natural built-in lines-the serifs-this type of font is most often selected for larger amounts of text.

Paper – If the document will be presented as a hard copy, it is important to put it on quality paper. This could be a heavier weight white paper or a linen or other quality business paper. Select the paper and color that fits the organization to which you are applying and represents you individually.

Simplicity – Once again, the resume or CV should be appealing. In the last versions, the candidate will do well to evaluate whether or not their resume has the necessary information and if so, then does it look inviting. If there is too much text or it is not well-organized, then people are less open to reading it. Because the objective of the document is to present you at a glance in order to get to the interview stage, make sure it is clean and inviting to the reader.

Be honest. Claims that a candidate makes in a resume or interview will often be checked in conversations with a candidate’s references. Also, some things are easily checked. For example if a person puts that they are fluent in another language, the interviewer may ask them a question in the other language to ensure accuracy of content. Even if claims are not checked, there will be a level of performance expected that is consistent with the information shared in the resume or CV and the interview. Market yourself well, but do it with integrity for peace of mind and better long-term employment opportunities.

When putting together a resume or CV, allow plenty of time to work on it and come back to it. It is an important investment in your career development. Spend the necessary time and energy to do it well as it is key to getting to the next step-an interview. Also working out the content for the resume begins preparing the candidate for the answers they should formulate prior to entering the interview.

Preparing a Professional Resume