Resume Checklist
Resumes have changed over the years, and whether you are new to the job market or have a lot of experience, you need to know the following things to maximize your chances of being hired:
- No cutesy or weird email addresses.
- Do NOT use Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail email addresses. (yes, Hotmail addresses still work). Using any of these services will date you. Sign up for a free account with Gmail or Outlook.com with something like [email protected] or [email protected]. If you have a popular name, try variations of your name like first and middle initials plus last name.
- Include your phone number. If your phone number isn’t on your resume, 90% of recruiters are going to throw it out.
- Skip your address. Your phone number and email address are all the recruiters or hiring managers need when going through resumes and contacting potential candidates. Including your address may give them just one more excuse to skip your resume.
- Use ONE font.
- You can use different font sizes, bold and italics, but even these stick to fewer variations.
- Use a modern, sans serif font that is easy to read.
- Keep the font size reasonable so people of all ages can easily read it even when printed.
- If you are new to the job market, keep the resume to one page. Don’t include every little thing and activity. Skip the hobbies and save them for the interview if asked.
- If you’ve been in the job market for a long time, keep the resume to a maximum of two pages and list only jobs for the past ten to twenty years that are relevant to the potential job.
- Include volunteer activities if skills used there are relevant to the job.
… and I saved the most significant thing for last… check for misspellings, typos, and bad grammar. You need to check grammar too because plain, old spellcheck will miss “manger” when you meant “manager”. Use a free tool like Grammarly.
After the Interview
Do you want to improve your chances after the interview?
- Don’t “friend” the interviewer(s) on social media. There is a distinction between work and play, and crossing this line during the interview process will probably turn off the interviewer. Speaking of social media, is there anything on your social media you may need to “clean up”?
- Send a thank-you email. This is so rare nowadays, and it will keep you top-of-mind with the hiring personnel.
