The Art of the Resume

A well-written cover letter addressed to the recruiting manager will help get your resume seen. An individualized letter, like the one shown in Figure 1, is more likely to be read than a generic one. Of course, you should also mention (briefly) in the cover letter any relevant skills or experience to the position.

Height, weight, age, date of birth, marital status, hobbies, and extracurricular activities are not vital to include on a resume. Personal information is usually irrelevant. Employers are more interested in past performance than in your hobbies and interests. It helps to highlight language skills when applying for jobs in other countries. Or, if you’re seeking employment with a religious organization, you might want to bring up your faith if it’s a good fit. You can ignore everything that has nothing to do with your performance on the job.

Avoid citing sources. Tell a potential employer you’re “available on request” will suffice. For these factors:

You’d instead focus on the human connection with the potential employer.
The jobs you apply for may influence who you choose to reference for you.
Your reference contacts shouldn’t be polled after every resume submission.

The use of reference letters is another contentious topic. Some hiring managers complain that receiving a candid reference in writing is impossible. The increasing risk of legal action makes references wary of being honest.

Don’t mention your wage history or expectations unless specifically asked about them. You don’t want your earning potential capped at your current wage. You must avoid appearing “desperate.” You also don’t want to agree on a salary before you know your responsibilities.

Modality of Prose

Below are some fundamental tips that may help applicants strengthen their resumes.

Does a CV need to have an objective? Professional resume writers and career advisers have differing opinions on this, and it likely always will. There are benefits to being specific about the position you’re applying for but also drawbacks to being vague. Certain professionals are adamant that a resume objective statement is mandatory. They claim that a potential employer must infer this information from your resume if you don’t include an objective.

Others have advised against including a career aim on your resume. This allows your potential employer more leeway to consider you for a wider variety of roles, including those that may not yet exist but for which your expertise and education might be a good fit.

It’s unrealistic to think that portraying yourself as someone who can handle any situation will result in more job offers. For this reason, a CV that highlights your qualifications and experiences is ideal. You can quickly tailor your CV to a specific position and company with the help of today’s personal computers. Leverage the might of the computer! If you tailor your CV to the job you’re applying for, your goals, and your skills, you increase your odds of getting an interview. Emphasise skills that are relevant to the position you are applying for.

Don’t just state your jobs and duties; elaborate. Put your abilities and accomplishments in previous jobs front and center on your resume. Discuss how well you fared on each. Use “power words” such as “designed,” “directed,” “created,” “caused,” “saved,” etc., throughout your explanations. If you want to avoid the overused “… am seeking a challenging position,” use something like “… am seeking a challenging opportunity that will permit me to apply my computer expertise in areas where computing and information resources are not realizing their full potential.”

Most resumes assume that the benefits to a potential employer are apparent to anyone reading the document. In place of “Responsible for engineering design,” you may write, “Organized and directed an engineering design that reduced by 20 percent the number of installed parts without loss of performance.” Also, instead of saying, “Sales manager for five years,” you may add something like, “Sales manager with a progressive engineering firm where I achieved a successful five-year record of opening up six new territories.”

This method of presenting dramatically increases the odds of touching a “potential benefit nerve” or a need that an employer is looking to fill.

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