How To Construct A Resume

A resume is the vehicle for transmitting your personal employment and experience history to potential hiring managers in an organized and brief manner. In learning how to construct a resume, there are several factors to consider: the target audience (who will read your resume), readability (will they want to read it from the general appearance) and content (once they begin reading it, will they stay with it?)

Two types of people read resumes of which everyone needs to be aware: recruiters (corporate, contract, staffing or executive search) and hiring managers (or those people with authority to hire.) Recruiters like for resumes to be brief, consistent, easy to read and direct or to the point when explaining your previous employment and experience. Hiring managers are looking specifically for the passages that will be beneficial to them to fill their job. Take into account who will see your document as you consider how to construct a resume.

When recruiters read your resume, try to make a lasting and positive impression. Recruiters are the direct link between you and employment. Therefore making your resume extremely readable is in your best interest. How to construct a resume that is readable? Pay attention to margins, white space, page layout (paragraphs, bullet points, bolding, underlining and italics) as well as font size. Margins should range from.8 inches to 1 inch on the top, bottom, left and right. White space should be present in order for interviewers to make notes in the margins. Page layout should consist of brief paragraphs (two to six lines), followed by multiple bullet points to add emphasis if there is more to be said. Bullets points should only be one line in length, though an occasional two liner is fine. But if you go three of four lines on your bullet, you subtract from the emphasis you are attempting to place.

How to construct a resume using grammatical devices such as bolding, underlining and italics are crucial in that these devices, if not used correctly, will become a distraction to the resume and can create a backlash effect. Too many resumes have words that are bolded, underlined or italicized with no rhyme or reason and in the final analysis, a lot of those resumes do not make the cut. Every word cannot have the same emphasis and by an indiscriminate usage of these devices the resume communicates disarray to the reader. Bolding, underling and italics should be used thematically throughout the resume to facilitate the ease of reading.

Font size does make a difference. This article will have approximately 500-600 words upon completion originating in 11 point font. Too many badly written resumes squeeze an extra 100-200 words on a page in order to "fit it all in." Avoid smaller fonts or fonts that are gimmicky. Imagine that you are a recruiter, having scanned over 50 resumes in a day. It is now 4:30 PM on a Friday and you resumes is opened. But the page is overcrowded with words that are so small, a magnifying glass is need. Chances are, this resume will not get read.

Every resume depends on content. Content is what keeps readers interested in your resume. Content should include accomplishments, results of experience, education, professional affiliations and skill sets. If you have years of experience, a professional summary is vital as is the proper words. If many recruiters do not see what they need to see in your summary, they stop reading. If you have less than seven years of experience, a professional profile may be substituted.

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