DO…

DON’T…

View yourself as a marketable product and service to be presented to a hiring representative.

Try to tell the reader everything by including an exhaustive skills lists or a comprehensive work history.

Present yourself accurately and positively.

Lie or exaggerate.

Lead the reader through your points with headings, bullets, bold type (or caps). Leave white space for maximum readability.

Use conjunctions such as : but, for, or, because, after, before, when, where, while, though, until, although, as if, since, etc.

Be succinct. Use only necessary words needed to convey your message.

Overuse the conjunction « and »

Include only enough information to encourage the reader to want to find out more.

Use long words, sentences, or paragraphs.

Focus on positive achievement statements.

Use pronouns such as « I », « they », « them », « we », etc

Match your skills and interests to the position.

List your broader life goals and philosophies.

List your most recent positions or areas of expertise first, and work backwards (10 years)

Assume the reader has time to absorb more than the eseential.

Stress accomplishments. Include figures to substantiate claims when possible.

Merely state that you are hard working or dedicated, leaving them to ask, « so what » ?

Use a brief summary statement of about five lines that states your overall qualifications.

Mention skills or interests that the job would never demand.

Show evidence of your qualifications, hard work, dedication, etc. by giving examples.

State salary requirements. You may underprice or overprice yourself at the start.

Leave out data that might result in discrimination (i.e. age, race, marital status, religion, etc)

Oversell yourself. Be prepared to back up everything stated on your résumé with examples of how, when and where.

Put education at the end unless there is a special reason for putting up front (i.e. college teaching)

Send out a résumé with incomplete sentences and poor organization.

Have a trusted friend or associate review your résumé for grammar, spelling, typos.