Resume Writing

A resume is a written overview of accomplishments and information targetted towards a particular job opening. It is like a brochure, meant to give the recruiter an overview and not an exhaustive list of every previous job activity. Resumes must be professional, effective, clear and concise as they usually receive under one minute of attention from the recruiter.

As mentioned above, the resume should be customized for each job application. It is important to keep the target in mind as it will ensure that the recruiter finds what he/she is looking for in a candidate. The structure of the resume should also direct the reader's attention to the most important and relevant accomplishments and experiences. This means that a lot of importance must be placed in the formatting, ie, fonts, margins, bold type, headings, bullets and a balance between text and whitespace.

The resume should not be boring to the reader. It should include the most upto date industry related terminology and include a variety of action verbs and well structured sentences.

Parts of the Resume

There are five main parts to a successful job resume:

1. Heading and Opening Summary
2. Technical and Computer Skills
3. Professional Experience and Accomplishments
4. Education
5. Volunteer Work and Professional Affiliations

Functional vs Chronological Resumes

There are two main formats when it comes to resumes: chronological and functional.

Sample Resume

Here is a sample resume.

Resume Tips

Top 5 tips to writing a winning resume.