10 Tips for Writing a Professional Resume (Katie Donnellan)

According to my topic, I was to summarize an article on some aspect of professional writing. I decided to post on writing a professional resume.



1. Start with an attractive layout. Use bold and italics to highlight key points.

2. Justify the text instead of using left align

3. Choose a common font. Times New Roman, Arial, and Verdana are some of the best fonts for a résumé.

4. Do not use the word "I" in your résumé. Start each sentence with a powerful verb. For example:

• Organized annual student symposium by securing speakers and working closely with marketing department executives.

5. Write a proper cover letter for each position to which you apply. Address whomever you are sending your resume directly. If there is not a specific name provided, use “Hiring Manager.”

6. Print your résumé and read it word-for-word. Don’t rely on spell check because it does make mistakes sometimes.

7. When you have a degree, list only the year that you obtained your degree. When you list your dates of attendance, many résumé scanning systems will not recognize that you obtained a degree, only that you attended college for a period.

8. Deactivate all e-mail links and Web addresses in your résumé and cover letter. Highlight the link with your mouse, right click on it, and scroll down to "remove link" to deactivate the link.

9. Be consistent! For example, don't list one date as 1/2005 and then list another date as 9/22/2005.

10. Adhere to punctuation and capitalization rules. Use a reference manual if you do not understand standard punctuation and capitalization rules.

For a more in depth explaination of each point, go to: http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-761-Cover-Letters-Resumes-10-Tips-for-Writing-a-Professional-R%c3%a9sum%c3%a9/?ArticleID=761&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=4498970f14594fbcb70b4d91f90acc82-291676386-RB-4

Picture found at: http://100w.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/resume.jpg