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Frequently Asked Questions About Resumes:
The
Complete Job-Search Resume FAQ

Printer-Friendly
Version

by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., and Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

This article seeks to be the complete compendium on the questions that
job-seekers most often asked about resumes. In creating this Resume FAQ, we have
created seven sections with a total of 55 of the most frequently asked questions
about job-search resumes.

Here's how this Resume FAQ is divided for navigation ease:

I. Job-Seeker
Resume Basics

What is the purpose of a resume?

What are the absolute, unbreakable rules of resume writing?

What about "breakable rules" of resume writing?

Do I need more than one version of my resume?

If I've never created a resume before, how do I get started?

What are the most important aspects of a resume, and how can I remember
them?

II. Resume
Components

What should be included on a resume?

There's nothing tricky about listing my name, is there?

What if my name is hard to pronounce or it fails to clarify my gender?

How should I list my address?

What other contact information do I need?

III. Elements to
Sharpen a Resume's Focus

Why does a resume need to be sharply focused?

How can you sharpen the focus of your resume?

Should I include my career objective on my resume?

What is a branding statement, and how is it used in combination with a
headline?

What about a Profile, Skills Profile, Qualifications, or Strengths
section?

What are keywords and how should I use them in my resume?

What is the Resume Ingredients Rule?

What kinds of Licenses or Certifications should I list?

IV. Handling
Education and Experience on Resumes

What goes first -- education or experience?

What should I always list under the Education section?

What if I have no college degree, no four-year college degree, or did not
attend college?

Should my other major heading be "Employment" or "Experience?"

Should the Experience section be further broken down into subsections?

How should my jobs be listed under the Experience section?

Should I list company names first or job titles first?

How should I list what I did in each job?

How do I handle multiple jobs with the same employer?

How far back should I go in my job history to avoid age discrimination?

What if a former employer no longer exists or has changed its name?

What are transferable skills, and what is their significance on a resume?

How do I handle employment gaps?

How can I avoid appearing to be a job-hopper?

What if I have no paid experience?

Which transferable skills are most in demand by employers?

Why and how should accomplishments and achievements be incorporated in the
Experience section?

What are Situation > Action > Results statements?

What is the significance of quantifying on a resume?

What is parallelism, and what is its significance on a resume?

V. Other
Resume Sections and Fine-Tuning Resume

What other sections could my resume include?

Should I list Hobbies and Interests?

Should I list References on my resume?

How should I handle references?

Should I use the line: "References available upon Request?"

VI. Handling
Special Resume Situations

How can I position myself for a career or industry change?

How do I handle relocation?

As an entrepreneur transitioning back to the workplace, how can I make the
most of my resume?

How can I ensure my resume will be kept confidential?

VII. Resume Design
and Mechanics

How many pages should my resume be?

What are the most important design elements for a resume?

What kind of paper should I use?

How should I duplicate my resume?

How should I mail my resume?

How can I make sure I've covered all the bases with my resume?

Should I hire a professional resume writer?

See also our special supplemental Frequently Asked
Resume Questions for College Students and New Graduates.

I. Job-Seeker Resume Basics

What is the purpose of a resume?

To get a job interview.

To structure the interview process.

To remind the interviewer of you after you're gone.

To serve as the basis for justifying the hiring decision to others.

What are the absolute, unbreakable rules of resume writing?

We believe there are only two absolute rules in resume writing:

These rules, however, are absolutes:

No typos or misspellings.

Do not lie.

Almost every rule you have ever heard can be broken if you have a
compelling reason.

What about "breakable rules" of resume writing?

Many of the breakable rules of resume relate to the length a
resume should be; all breakable rules are covered in other parts of this
FAQ.

Do I need more than one version of my resume?

Most likely, yes.

You may need more than one organizational format for your resume.
See table below for the most common organizational formats.

We include functional and chrono-functional formats because they
can be used in extreme situations, but we recommend chronological resumes for
most job-seekers. Purely functional resumes are the least common, least
preferred by employers, detested by recruiters... and most Internet job boards
do not accept this resume format.

While the chrono-functional/hybrid/combination resume is slightly
more acceptable to employers than the purely functional format, most employers
are unaccustomed to functional formats of any kind, finding them confusing,
annoying, and a red flag that something is wrong in your background. At the
very least, they will probably scrutinize a chrono-functional resume more
closely to check for details and find the flaws that inspired the candidate to
use this format. Some employers insist on knowing exactly what you did in each
job.

Recruiters/headhunters particularly disdain functional formats,
so this approach should never be used if you are primarily targeting
recruiters with your job search. Employers in conservative fields are not fans
of functional formats, nor are international employers. Functional formats,
even chrono-functional, also are not acceptable on many online job boards. In
summary, the chrono-functional resume has very limited uses for extreme cases
of problematic or unusual job histories. If you feel you have no other choice
than a chrono-functional resume, we recommend you enlist a professional resume
writer to craft the resume into a viable marketing tool.

See our article What Resume Format
is Best for You?.

You may need more than one delivery format for your resume. See
table below for the most common delivery formats.

One additional delivery format to consider is a Portable Document
Format (PDF) resume, which offers the advantages of being completely
invulnerable to viruses and totally compatible across computer systems
(requires software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download, to be opened
and read). A resume converted to PDF, which carries a .pdf file extension,
looks virtually identical to the original document from which it was created,
thus preserving the resume's visual appeal, and it also appears consistently
from computer to computer. A few employers specifically request PDF resume
files. However, for resumes placed in employers' Applicant Tracking Systems
(which comprises most resumes submitted electronically) PDFs are problematic
because "applicant tracking systems lack a standard way to structure PDF
documents," cautions Jon Ciampi, CEO of Preptel, a company that aims to help
job-seekers penetrate these systems (as quoted in an article on CIO.com by
Meridith Levinson). Read our article, Pros and Cons of
PDF Resumes in Job-Search.

For more about delivery methods, see our articles:

Your
E-resume's File Format Aligns With its Delivery Method

The Top 10 Things
You Need to Know about E-Resumes and Posting Your Resume Online

In additional to a possible range of organizational and delivery formats,
you will probably want to customize each resume you send -- at least to some
extent -- to the job you're applying for. Use our Cover Letter
and Resume Customization Worksheet to help you customize.

If I've never created a resume before, how do I get started?

Here are some suggestions for resources to get you started:

Use our Quintessential
Careers Resume Worksheets, especially our Resume
Components Worksheet.

Try the Inexpensive Resume Workbooks from the late Yana Parker.

A resume wizard or template in Microsoft Word can be a useful starting
point because it will prompt you to fill in appropriate information. Once
you've used a Word template to start your resume, it's best to customize the
layout and design. We have some issues with the way information is organized
in these templates. Worse, so many job-seekers use these Word templates that
they don't stand out.

Use our Fundamentals of
a Good Chronological Resume as a basic template.

Get inspiration from our collection of more than 100 Free Sample
Professional Resumes.

If you're really stuck, consider hiring
a professional resume writer.

What are the most important aspects of a resume, and how can I remember
them?

The most important things to remember about writing an effective
resume can be encapsulated in a six-letter acronym, FAKTSA, in which the letters
stand for:

Focus

Appearance

Keywords

Transferrable Skills

Accomplishments

Get more details about these elements in our article, FAKTSA: An Easy Acronym
for Remembering Key Resume Enhancers.

II. Resume Components

What should be included on a resume?

We offer lists of the items that you absolutely must include
in your resume and a list of optional items to consider including:

Resume Musts

Name

Address(es)*

Phone numbers*

Email address

Education

Experience

Resume Optionals

Objective
Statement (currently out of fashion; please click the preceding link to
see what replaces the objectives statement)

Headline and/or Branding Statement (often used instead of an Objective
Statement); see more about career branding in our Career Branding
Tutorial

Professional Profile or Qualifications Summary (use this Professional
Profile/Qualifications Summary Worksheet)

Keyword
Summary

Licenses/Certifications

Accomplishments/Achievements

Transferable
Skills

Strengths

Affiliations/Memberships

Languages

Foreign travel

Presentations

Publications

Activities

Hobbies/Interests

Military

The notation, "References available on request"

We also offer this list of items that should never be
included on a resume:

Height, weight, age, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, sex,
race, health, social security number (except on an International Resume/CV)

Reasons for leaving previous job(s)

Name of boss or supervisor

Street addresses and phone numbers of past employers (city and state is
sufficient)

Picture of yourself

Salary information

Specific names of references (more on this issue later)

The title "Resume"

Religion, church affiliations, political or other controversial
affiliations: Any disclosure on your resume that could get you screened out as
a candidate is risky. You may take the stance that you don't want to work for
an employer that would eliminate you because a hiring manager didn't like your
political beliefs or religious affiliation. But given that, for most
candidates, religion, politics, and any other controversial affiliations are
not relevant to your next job, it's wise to leave them out.

There's nothing tricky about listing my name, is there?

Use the name by which you are known professionally. If you go by
your middle name, for example, you can list your name one of these ways:

W. Scott Carson

William "Scott" Carson

The same goes for nicknames. Keep in mind that some nicknames don't
exactly project professionalism, but if you are universally known by your
nickname, you may want to list yourself that way on your resume.

With your name, list also any professional credentials (M.D., CPA,
Ph.D.) that are integral to the job you seek.

What if my name is hard to pronounce or it fails to clarify my gender?

This issue isn't as silly as it seems. Even if you're well
qualified, an employer may hesitate to phone you for an interview if he or she
can't pronounce your name or even doesn't know whether to expect a male or
female. For the difficult-to-pronounce name, include a phonetic pronunciation of
your name in small type in the "letterhead" portion of your resume. Example:
"Sally Hsieh (pronounced 'Shay')." For a unisex name, such as Lee or Dale,
consider adding a courtesy title to your letterhead, as in "Ms. Lee Anderson" or
"Mr. Dale Burns." Especially consider adding a courtesy title if your name is
almost always thought of as belonging to the opposite gender or if it is a
non-English name, and English-speakers would not know whether to expect a man or
a woman: "Ms. Michael Crane" "Mr. Jocelyn Smith." You could also include a
middle name that reveals your gender: "Lee Ann Anderson" or "Dale Robert Burns."
Of course, you may consider your ambiguously gendered name an advantage and
prefer not to reveal your gender (even though your gender will become obvious if
you're called for an interview).

How should I list my address?

List your permanent address

Most college students give both a college address and permanent address

*What other contact information do I need?

While job-seekers were once advised to include as much contact
information as possible, the emerging trend for contact information on a resume
is to include a Website address/URL, city and state only (no street address), a
single phone number (no second/third number, no fax number), and a single email
address, says Findings of 2011 Global Career Brainstorming Day: Trends for
the Now, the New & the Next in Careers, published by the Career Thought
Leaders Consortium.

Make sure your email address is professional, not one such as
[email-masked]. You may also want to include links to online profiles,
such as on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you do, however, ensure that your
profiles are squeaky clean, with no content or photos that shed a negative light
on you.

If you are in serious job-hunting mode and employers who call your
phone are likely to get voicemail, make sure your voicemail greeting is
professional.

III. Elements to Sharpen a Resume's Focus

Why does a resume need to be sharply focused?

The reader needs to be able to tell in a quick glance what you want
to do and what you would be good at. A recent study indicates that the reader
will spend as few as 6 seconds screening your resume, so you need to focus the
reader's attention quickly.

How can you sharpen the focus of your resume?

Use a branding statement or headline or both atop your resume.

Add a profile/qualifications summary with keywords relevant to the job you
seek. See our Resume
Professional Profile/Qualifications Summary Worksheet.

Add a keyword section relevant to the job you seek. See our Resume Keywords
Worksheet.

Beef up portrayal of accomplishments and transferable skills. Be sure to
spotlight skills that apply to what you want to do next. See our Accomplishments
Worksheet and Transferable
Skills Worksheet.

Use our Cover Letter
and Resume Customization Worksheet to help you sharpen your focus.

For college students and new grads: Consider adding class projects in your
major (or other classes) that are applicable to what you want to do upon
graduation. See our College
Experience Worksheet for Resume Development.

Should I include my career objective on my resume?

Objective Statements have fallen out of favor. Many employers and
recruiters claim they don't even read them. That's because most objective
statements are badly written, self-serving, too vague, and not designed to do
what they're supposed to do, which is to sharpen a resume's focus.

For a very detailed discussion of ways to sharpen your resume, see
Your Job-Search
Resume Needs a Focal Point: How Job-Seekers Can Add Focus to Resumes

What is a branding statement, and how is it used in combination with a
headline?

A "headline" atop your resume usually identifies the position or
type of job you seek.

A branding statement is a punchy "ad-like" statement that tells
immediately what you can bring to an employer. A branding statement defines who
you are, your promise of value, and why you should be sought out. Your branding
statement should encapsulate your reputation, showcase what sets you apart from
others, and describe the added value you bring to a situation. Think of it as a
sales pitch. Integrate these elements into the brief synopsis that is your
branding statement:

What makes you different?

What qualities or characteristics make you distinctive?

What have you accomplished?

What is your most noteworthy personal trait?

What benefits (problems solved) do you offer?

See a good discussion of branding statements and headlines, with
samples, starting in this section of our free e-book, The
Quintessential Guide to Words to Get Hired By.

What about a Profile, Skills Profile, Qualifications, or Resume Strengths
section?

Whether or not you choose to include an objective statement,
branding statement, and/or headline on your resume, you may wish to present a
Qualifications Summary or Profile section. In addition to Profile and
Qualifications Summary, these resume-topping sections go by numerous names:
Career Summary, Summary, Executive Summary, Professional Profile,
Qualifications, Strengths, Skills, Key Skills, Skills Summary, Summary of
Qualifications, Background Summary, Professional Summary, Highlights of
Qualifications. All of these headings are acceptable, but our favorite is
Professional Profile.

Twenty-five years ago, a Profile or Summary section was somewhat
unusual on a resume. Career experts trace the use of summaries or profiles to
include information about candidates' qualities beyond their credentials to the
publication of the late Yana Parker's The Damn Good Resume Guide in 1983.
For the last 20-plus years, resume writers have routinely included these
sections; however, the age of electronic submissions has now caused the pendulum
to swing the other way.

On one hand, electronic submission means that hiring
decision-makers are inundated and overwhelmed with resumes and have less time
than ever before to peruse each document. That means that many of them do not
read Profile or Summary sections.

On the other hand, the age of electronic submissions has increased
the importance of keywords so that candidates can be found in database searches.
Even some of the hiring decision-makers who don't read Profiles and Summaries
advise including them as a way to ensure sufficient keywords in the resume.

A vocal contingent of decision-makers, especially among recruiters,
strongly advocate for a Summary section -- but one that is quite succinct -- a
short paragraph or single bullet point. They want to see in a nutshell who you
are and what you can contribute.

For a detailed discussion of these sections, including guidelines
for crafting them and samples, see Chapter
3 of our free e-book, The Quintessential Guide to Words to Get Hired By: Your
Professional Profile: Bullet Points that Describe Your Strengths in a
Nutshell.

Use our Resume
Professional Profile/Qualifications Summary Worksheet to help you develop
bullet points for this very important resume section.

What are keywords and how should I use them in my resume?

Inundated by resumes from job-seekers, employers have increasingly
relied on digitizing resumes, placing those resumes in keyword-searchable
databases, and using software to search those databases for specific keywords
that relate to job vacancies. Most Fortune 1000 companies, in fact, and many
smaller companies now use these technologies. In addition, many employers search
the databases of third-party job-posting and resume-posting boards on the
Internet. It is safe to estimate that well over 90 percent of resumes are
searched for job-specific keywords.

The bottom line is that if you apply for a job with a company that
searches databases for keywords, and your resume doesn't have the keywords the
company seeks for the person who fills that job, you are pretty much dead in the
water.

To some extent, job-seekers have no way of knowing what the words
are that employers are looking for when they search resume databases. But
job-seekers have information and a number of tools at their disposal that can
help them make educated guesses as to which keywords the employer is looking
for. See a detailed discussion of resume keywords and how to identify them in
our article, Tapping
the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume's Effectiveness and use our Keywords Worksheet
to help identify keywords for use in your resume.

What is the Resume Ingredients Rule?

Note: From author Donald Asher.

Organize the information on your resume in accordance with your desired
impact on the reader. This rule should govern which information you present
and the order in which you present it.

That's why you always list your work experience in REVERSE chronological
order -- because your most important and applicable jobs are likely to be the
most recent.

You don't want the first thing that the employer sees to be bagboy at the
supermarket or waitress if you've had more important and relevant jobs.

What kinds of Licenses or Certifications should I list?

Any that are relevant to the job you seek.

IV. Handling Education and Experience on Resumes

What goes first -- education or experience?

It depends on whether your degree or your experience is your best selling
point. Always list the most relevant section first...

If you are a current college student or about to graduate, generally list
education first.

If you are currently working, generally list experience first. A good
cutoff point for moving your Experience section to the forefront of your
resume is a year to 18 months after graduation.

What should I always list under the Education section?

If you have multiple degrees, list the most recent first.

For each degree, ALWAYS list NAME of your degree FIRST.

Include your college name, city, and state

Include major(s) and usually minor(s)

Include graduation date (or expected graduation): Month/Year. Once you've
been out of school a year or so, you can omit the month. Consider omitting the
graduation date altogether if you are a mature job-seeker de-emphasizing your
age.

Special note to college students and new graduates: At this point in the
FAQ, you may wish to take a side trip to our special Frequently Asked
Resume Questions for College Students and New Graduates.

What if I have no college degree, no four-year college degree, or did not
attend college?

If you have at least some college, list it. List an associate's
degree or incomplete studies toward a bachelor's degree. For the incomplete
degree, list the college, major, location, span of dates you attended, and,
ideally, number of credit-hours completed. Your listing of an associate's
degree, incomplete bachelor's degree, or no college at all should be beefed up
with any training, professional-development, and certificate programs. In the
unlikely event that you have absolutely none of these, leave off the Education
section. Some employers (and most recruiters) will screen you out, but if you
have succeeded in the past without educational credentials, your professional
accomplishments will likely be enough to propel you to an interview.

Should my other major heading be "Employment" or "Experience?"

Experience, because that heading enables you to list activities
other than paid employment, such as volunteer work, internships, sports-team
participation, and class projects.

Should the Experience section be further broken down into subsections?

While a resume can sometimes include subsections, such as Relevant
(or Professional) Experience and Other Experience, we find it confusing when
resumes, especially those of college students, list multiple types of experience
-- internship experience, volunteer experience, extracurricular experience,
leadership experience, etc.

How should my jobs be listed under the Experience section?

List information in this order:

Job title;

Job subheadings should include name of company, city, and state (Do NOT
include street addresses, names of supervisors, contact telephone numbers, or
other extraneous data.);

Dates of employment (include month or seasonal descriptor and year);

Bulleted list of key accomplishments (more to come on this subject);

Company description (optional; often sought by recruiters and employers of
senior-level job-seekers).

Reporting relationships -- title of person you reported to and titles and
departments that reported to you (optional; often sought by recruiters and
employers of senior-level job-seekers).

Should I list company names first or job titles first?

Generally, list job title first unless you are trying to call
attention to the name of prominent companies for which you've worked. (Example:
If you plan to enter the tourism industry, and you've had internships at Disney
World, Sea World, and Universal Studios, you could list company names first).

How should I list what I did in each job?

Do NOT use phrases such as "Responsible for . . .," "Duties included . .
.," and "Responsibilities included..."

When you use those phrases, you are giving job descriptions instead of
describing the skills you used, the accomplishments you made, and the
initiative you took.

Focus on specific accomplishments -- how you made each job your own, and
quantify these accomplishments whenever possible. Read more about using accomplishments in
job-hunting.

Use action
verbs in describing your accomplishments.

Why and how should accomplishments and achievements be incorporated in the
Experience section?

Try to come up accomplishments/achievements for each job -- ways you did
the job that distinguish you from others doing the same job.

It's not easy for college students to identify these accomplishments, but
you should try.

Always quantify accomplishments whenever possible. Read more about tracking and
leveraging your accomplishments.

As you are developing your resume, use our Accomplishments
Worksheet.

How do I handle multiple jobs with the same employer?

We recommend listing each position separately, as if it were a
separate job, even repeating the name of employer and employer location each
time. This approach provides more consistency throughout the resume and clearly
shows your progression from job to job. It can also illustrate rapid promotions
when the prospective employer sees short time periods between positions.

How far back should I go in my job history to avoid age discrimination?

Hiring decision-makers are split on this point, which is affected
by the growing practice of conducting background checks. Many, especially
recruiters, are adamant about seeing every job listed from your college
graduation to the present. They argue that background checks -- or even just
seeing you in person at an interview -- will reveal your age anyway, so why hide
it? Others recommend going back 15-20 years, with the idea that jobs beyond that
point are likely not relevant to your next career move. If you have the
opportunity to contact the decision-maker before sending your resume, you can
always ask his or her preference. Another option is to include your jobs that
are more than 15 years old, but list them in bare-bones fashion (title,
employer, location) with or without dates of employment. You may want to title
this section Previous Professional Experience. Even if you opt to leave off the
dates, the recipient will at least know that you have provided full disclosure
by listing all jobs. A similar option is to insert a disclaimer statement to the
effect that "additional employment history is available upon request."

See also our article, Resume, Cover
Letter, and Interview Strategies for Older Workers.

What if a former employer no longer exists or has changed its name?

For the out-of-business employer, you can simply state "no longer
in business," "ceased operations," or "defunct" after listing the employer's
name. For an employer that had a different name when you worked there than it
does now, list like this:
Andersen Consulting (now Accenture)

Or, if you work in a renamed company and fear its new name won't be
recognized, list like this:
Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting)

What are transferable skills, and what is their significance on a
resume?

Skills obtained through ANY of the experiences in your life (including
extracurricular activities, sports, homemaking, volunteer work, and classroom
experience) that can transfer and apply to the kind of job you want when you
graduate.

Portraying your experiences in terms of transferable skills is probably
the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of your resume.

Most college students could do a much better job of portraying their
experiences in terms of transferable skills. Those who do so successfully will
be most likely to get interviews.

Read more at Quintessential
Careers: Transferable Skills and Transferable
Skills -- A Vital Job-search Technique..

Use our Transferable
Skills Worksheet to develop lists of skills and examples of how you've
used them.

How do I handle employment gaps?

A chrono-functional resume is one way to deemphasize employment
gaps, but as we've seen earlier in this FAQ, these formats are highly unpopular
with employers and especially recruiters. Another approach, if you can
legitimately do so, is to frame periods of unemployment as stints of
self-employment, consulting, or project work. Some job-seekers quit their jobs
to pursue advanced education or training; you can account for a period of
unemployment by listing yourself as a Graduate Student during that period. One
recruiter we talked to called gaps "a huge red flag," so they should be
explained in your resume if you can gracefully do so. Other options include
explaining them in your cover letter or being prepared to do so in an interview
(however, gaps may preclude you from getting the interview).

See also our article, How to Handle a Gap in
Your Job History.

How can I avoid appearing to be a job-hopper?

Job-hopping is far less a concern than it was just a few years ago.
Mature job-seekers will remember a time when long-time company loyalty was
expected. Those days are gone. Workers at all levels stay at their jobs for much
shorter periods than they used to. That's not to say that job-hopping is no
longer questioned. Very short, frequent job stints can certainly raise eyebrows.
A chrono-functional resume will deemphasize job-hopping but comes with its own
drawbacks. Another choice is to omit jobs of short duration. In these days of
background checks, however, your omission can be risky. Most hiring
decision-makers we've surveyed emphasize that nothing should be left off because
jobs you've omitted will be discovered eventually in the vetting process, and
you'll be eliminated. It's best to list everything, but make a strong case for
your qualifications in your cover letter and top third of your resume so that
you get called for an interview. Then be prepared to explain and put a positive
spin on problematic or short-duration jobs face to face.

What if I have no paid experience?

Identify transferable/applicable skills from these areas:

Internships

Summer jobs

Campus jobs (work-study)

Entrepreneurial/self-employed jobs

Temporary
work

Volunteer Work: school, church, club, not-for-profit organizations

Research papers/projects

Certification courses

Campus activity positions

Fraternity/sorority/social club positions

Extracurricular or sports leadership positions

College students with minimal experience can brainstorm using our
College
Experience Worksheet for Resume Development.

Which transferable skills are most in demand by employers?

Every career expert has a different list of skills most in demand by
employers (although certain items, such as teamwork, interpersonal,
communication, and leadership skills, appear on almost all lists).

Familiarize yourself with these lists of most in-demand skills so you know
what skills to play up on your resume.

The most important in-demand skills are the ones that are in demand in
YOUR FIELD. Get to know what those are.

Here's career expert Donald Asher's list of the skills most in demand by
employers:

Ability to acquire new technical, analytical, or computer skills quickly

Teamwork skills

The ability to sell ideas and persuade others

Creative problem-solving talents

Ability to follow orders

Leadership aptitude

Drive, stamina, strong work ethic

Intelligence

Diligence, "stick-to-itiveness"

Initiative

Ability to acquire foreign languages

Ambition

Reliability

What are Situation > Action > Results statements?

The Situation > Action > Results statement is one way to frame your
accomplishments. Tell what the situation was in the job when you started, what
action you took to affect the situation, and what the results were.

Example: As a result of my reorganization of an extremely messy
office-supply store, sales increased more than 20 percent.

Because the job-seeker has so little time to capture the reader's
attention on the resume, consider using "backwards" Situation > Action >
Results statements so results catch the reader's eye; in other words, Results
> Action > Situation statements. Thus the previous example becomes:
"Increased retail sales more than 20 percent by reorganizing extremely messy
office-supply store."

Read more in our STAR Interviewing
Response Technique.

What is the significance of quantifying on a resume?

Quantifying means expressing accomplishments in terms of numbers.
Employers love to see quantification on resumes.

Examples: You increased sales by 10 percent, you supervised 4 other
employees, you served 150 customers daily.

What is parallelism, and what is its significance on a resume?

Don't mix job titles with job functions.

Use same part of speech when you describe your jobs. It is usually best to
kick off your bullet points with verbs. Don't mix nouns and verbs.

Be consistent with verb forms for each listing (all '-ed' verbs or all
'-ing' verbs, but not a mixture of the two).

For a detailed discussion of resume parallelism, see Chapter
6 of our free e-book, The Quintessential Guide to Words to Get Hired
By.

V. Other Resume Sections and Fine-Tuning Resume

What other sections could my resume include?

Affiliations/Memberships (of non-controversial groups)

Languages: Ability to read, write and speak. (We prefer to see language
skills listed in your Professional Profile.)

Foreign travel

Public speaking, presentations

Volunteer, Civic, Community Service, Fund-raising, Leadership, and
Athletic activities.

Military

Should I list Hobbies and Interests?

Generally, no. These items are considered superfluous and trivial.
Some job-seekers consider these items conversation-starters, while some
employers feel the information humanizes the candidate and presents a fuller
picture. Many recruiters and employers feel hobby and interest information can
expose the candidate to discrimination. A workaholic hiring manager "could
perceive the candidate as frivolous with too many outside interests," observes
Alison, a corporate recruiter for a specialized information provider. As with
most information on your resume, the option to list hobby and interest
information is a personal choice, but it's usually more risky to list it than to
leave it off. Ask yourself: Does this information add value to my resume? Space
constraints may also guide your decision.

Should I list References on my resume?

Never list specific names and contact information of references
directly on your resume.

How should I handle references?

If they are requested, list them on a separate sheet, the
letterhead of which matches your resume (and do not volunteer this references
sheet unless asked).

List a minimum of 3 business references: People who have direct knowledge
of your daily job performance. Get their approval first. Provide your
references with a copy of your resume.

List contact's name, title, company, complete address, phone number with
area code, and e-mail address (if they use it).

See our articles, How
to Obtain and Use References and Recommendation Letters and References: The Keys to
Choosing and Using the Best Job References in Your Job Search, as well as
our Sample
Job Reference Lists for Job-Seekers.

Should I use the line: "References available upon Request?"

Consider leaving off the line "References available upon Request."
This statement is highly optional because it is a given that you will provide
references upon request. The line can serve the purpose of signaling: "This is
the end of my resume," but if you are trying to conserve space, leave it off.

VI. Handling Special Resume Situations

How can I position myself for a career or industry change?

A career change gives you the opportunity to sharpen the focus of
your resume toward the new career or industry. Study ads and job postings in
your desired new field, and frame your resume bullet points so that your skills
and accomplishments in your current career can be seen as directly applicable to
your new career. Use copious keywords that relate to your new career, and tailor
your profile, headline, and branding statement, to your aspiration.

How do I handle relocation?

While you can discuss relocation in your cover letter, it never
hurts to also mention it in your resume. Express in your objective statement and
profile your intention to relocate. Since many employers respond much more
favorably to local candidates, consider using an address in your new city (PO
box, a friend's address, mail-forwarding service) on your resume.

As an entrepreneur transitioning back to the workplace, how can I make the
most of my resume?

Emphasize the entrepreneurial transferable skills that apply to the
type of job you're targeting. Many employers, for example, seek candidates who
can handle startup and turnaround situations. They're also looking for
professionals with experience in asset and liability management, budget
development, building strategic alliances, business plan development, capital
equipment budgets, competitive analysis, costing and budgeting, financial
strategies, market strategy, profit and loss management/direction, new business
development, operations management, research and development, return on
investment, and strategic planning direction. Focus also on your entrepreneurial
successes and accomplishments; avoid conveying any impression that you are
leaving the entrepreneurial life because you didn't succeed at it.

How can I ensure my resume will be kept confidential?

Request as much in your cover letter. It doesn't hurt to display
the word "Confidential" boldly at the top of your resume. Some job-seekers who
don't want current employer to know they're in the hunt go so far as to list
that employer by describing the organization rather than actually giving its
name.

VII. Resume Design and Mechanics

How many pages should my resume be?

Among the resume "rules" you may have heard is the one in which
resumes should be limited to one page. In the current Twitter-inspired
communications climate, employer expectations are trending toward resumes that
are not only shorter overall, but written in a brief, tight manner. "The norm
for most resumes/CVs is one to two pages, even for very experienced
professionals," reported Findings of 2011 Global Career Brainstorming Day:
Trends for the Now, the New & the Next in Careers, published by the Career
Thought Leaders Consortium. "A survey of HR/recruiters on LinkedIn indicated an
overwhelming preference for two-page resumes provided there is enough value in
the content to warrant a second page," the report said.

One-page resumes can be especially useful for candidates in certain
situations, such as networking, in which the job-seeker wants to give potential
network contacts a thumbnail glance at his or her career.

A summary of guidelines on resume length:

One page is usually preferred for college students and new grads, but
those with rich campus backgrounds and work/internship experience may need two
pages.

While two-page resumes are suitable for many job-seekers, the trend is
toward short, tight resumes.

While three or more pages may be indicated at the senior level, the trend
is to limit the resume to one or two pages and create addenda for additional
content.

Job-seekers should never sacrifice readability (tiny type, narrow margins)
just to squeeze a resume into a certain number of pages.

When a resume spills onto an additional page, it should fill up at least
half of that page. If not, try to condense.

See our article, The Scoop on Resume
Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be? for a variety of opinions and
guidelines on resume length.

What are the most important design elements for a resume?

Use a mix of bold type, italics, bold italics, varying font sizes, small
caps, and upper-case lettering for emphasis and to control the reader's eye --
but don't go overboard with typographic variations.

Type should be between 10 and 12 point. 11-point type is ideal.

Balance the material on your page.

Allow sufficient white space with margins of .75" to 1". Note that
Microsoft Word's default margins of 1.25" are generally wider than needed.

Bulleted lists are extremely reader-friendly.

Be consistent with headings so the eye can follow a pattern.

Do not use justified text blocks. Type should be flush left with
occasional centering.

Do NOT italicize your entire resume or large blocks of type as italics are
hard on the eye.

Don't use more than two fonts.

Underlining tends to add clutter.

What kind of paper should I use?

Regular copy paper is fine, but...

Studies show candidates who use heavy paper are considered more serious.

Print on a 24- or 28-pound paper.

Choose a light colored paper; you can't go wrong with white.

How should I duplicate my resume?

Laser printing or high-quality inkjet

For large numbers of copies: High-quality photocopies

When determining the number of copies to have produced, remember, you will
want to keep tweaking your resume (for each position you apply to), so don't
get massive quantities photocopied at once.

How should I mail my resume?

Although it is becoming less and less common to send resumes by
postal mail ...

Ideally, mail flat; do NOT fold.

Priority Mail may impress the recipient.

Colorful envelopes and stamps may get attention, but the hiring
decision-maker often isn't the person who opens the envelope.

How can I make sure I've covered all the bases with my resume?

Use our:

Resume
Critique Worksheet for Job-Seekers

Resume Do's
and Don'ts

Ten Easy Ways
to Improve Your Resume

Avoid These 10
Resume Mistakes

Should I hire a professional resume writer?

Maybe. Many considerations go into the decision of whether to hire
a professional resume writer. Read about them in our article Why Hire
a Professional Resume Writer?

Have questions about other aspects of job-hunting? Find our entire
collection of answers to the most frequently asked questions in the
Quintessential Careers Career, Job-Search, and
Job-Hunting FAQs for Job-Seekers.

Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get
more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary
of Job-Hunting Terms.

Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate publisher of
Quintessential Careers, is an educator, author, and blogger who provides content
for Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic
newsletter for jobseekers, and blogs about storytelling in the job search at A Storied Career. Katharine,
who earned her PhD in organizational behavior from Union Institute &
University, Cincinnati, OH, is author of Dynamic Cover Letters for New
Graduates and A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job
Market (both published by Ten Speed Press), as well as Top Notch
Executive Resumes (Career Press); and with Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.,
Dynamic Cover Letters, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA (Ten Speed),
and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Study Skills (Alpha). Visit her personal Website or reach
her by e-mail at kathy(at)quintcareers.com.

Dr. Randall S. Hansen is founder of Quintessential Careers, one of the
oldest and most comprehensive career development sites on the Web, as well CEO
of EmpoweringSites.com. He is also
founder of MyCollegeSuccessStory.com and
EnhanceMyVocabulary.com. He is
publisher of Quintessential
Careers Press, including the Quintessential Careers electronic newsletter,
QuintZine. Dr.
Hansen is also a published author, with several books, chapters in books, and
hundreds of articles. He's often quoted in the media and conducts empowering
workshops around the country. Finally, Dr. Hansen is also an educator, having
taught at the college level for more than 15 years. Visit his personal Website or reach
him by email at randall(at)quintcareers.com.

Have you taken advantage of all the many free resume tools,
articles, samples, and more that we have in the Resume Resources section of
Quintessential Careers?

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