Let us start with a quick one-question quiz.
What is the purpose of a resume?
- To secure a new job or career
- To get an interview
- To tell your life story
- All of the above
While it might be tempting to say 4, all of the above, that would not be correct. A resume is not a life story. It is a sales pitch designed to convince a potential employer that they should interview a job candidate, nothing more and nothing less.
Next, let us review some mistakes to avoid in preparing a resume. If your resume has any of these characteristics, please fix them before sending out any additional copies.
- Your resume says References Furnished Upon Request. This is dated terminology, very common on resumes, say 50 years ago. It provides no useful information. Furthermore, some readers might consider this to be insulting. It says I do not trust you with the names of my references. Either include the references or do not. Your choice. I would recommend only including if you are responding to an advertisement that requires them and you really want that position.
- Having your name, address, phone, etc. centered on separate lines at the top of your resume. This is a very dated style and consumes a lot of lines that could be better utilized. Instead, have your name in large, perhaps bold print at the top of the resume with your email address, LinkedIn profile address, phone number, on a second line.
- Using a fancy template (unless you are a graphic designer). Some Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) may become confused and discard the resume. Busy recruiters and managers may not find the most important information in the limited time they devote to each resume if there are lots of applicants for few positions.
- Crowding too much text on a page. If you do not have enough whitespace, the resume becomes difficult to read. To further aid readability and have a clean look, stick to one or two fonts, and use bold and italics sparingly.
- Tasks which you were assigned to do that can easily be inferred from your job title.
Now that we know what a resume is for and what not to do, let’s talk about making the resume Results Oriented And Relevant so that it ROARs (like a lion) when a recruiter or hiring manager see it. A ROARing resume makes it easy for them to see how your background has prepared you to do the job they need to have done, it shows how you will fit into the organization and it shows what they will not have to do once you are on board.
The main sections of a ROARing resume include:
- Header: Your name and relevant contact information.
- Relevant section: A section that shows how all your experiences (which are detailed in the Experience section) will fit their needs in just a few sentences.
- Experience: A section which lists, in reverse chronological order, relevant previous positions with your results or accomplishments at each position.
- Skills: Your technical skills that are relevant for the position that you are seeking.
- Licensure & Certifications: Include this section, if relevant.
- Education: Your college, technical education and possibly (but probably not) high school education in reverse chronological order.
Now we will discuss each section in a little bit of detail.
Header
Your name in larger font than other text on your resume in bold on its own line.
Just one line with all of your relevant contact information (if possible), but no more than two lines. Normally this would be your email address, LinkedIn and phone number. You might want to include your city and state of residence if relevant for the job you are interested in. If you have a website, you might include the URL here.
Relevant Section
While some people will argue this section is not necessary, I believe it is the most important section of the resume! In just a few “sentences” (but leave off the “I am” in opening sentence) explain what position you are applying for and demonstrate how the experiences and skills you present below have prepared you to do what the hiring company wants you to do. Sound eager and enthusiastic! Here is an example:
Eager to join Ronald G. Shapiro, PhD, LLC as a speaker delivering Education by Entertainment programs. My experiences as an award winning elementary, middle and high school teacher as well as my experience as a highly sought after corporate trainer have prepared me to virtually guarantee that your guests will learn. I love presenting in innovative ways. My experiences sponsoring fun events, such as birthday celebrations for my students, will virtually guarantee your clients will love the programs. My experiences as a game show contestant who was at-first reluctant to get up on stage will help to be sure all the on-stage contestants will have a positive experience.
(Please do not send me a resume applying to present my programs, this is only an example for illustrative purposes.)
Experience Section
For each position please list your job title (if it is so generic to be of no value, such as team member, simply include a meaningful descriptive title), years of employment, and major results/accomplishments on the job. Some people recommend going back 10 years. I recommend including all relevant positions (paid or volunteer).
As an example, if you were applying for a position directing the youth orchestra, it would be relevant to include your experiences being in a youth orchestra. I recommend including as many relevant experiences as will keep the potential employer excited. If I were forced to offer a number, I would say between two and six. Try to keep your total resume to one and not more than two pages. If you need to go over do the following test: read each line of the resume and ask yourself does this line make me want to read more. If so, great. If not, remove the line.
As an example:
Speaker & Consultant Ronald G. Shapiro, PhD, LLC (Education by Entertainment) 2013 – present
- All sponsors delighted with my programs
- Participants most frequently describe programs as being Fun, Interesting, Entertaining, Amazing, Awesome, Funny, Engaging
- Numerous program participants return for subsequent programs (having a specific percentage would be better than numerous)
Skills
Include relevant skills, especially if you are applying for a job in technology. Do not include skills that you do not want to use on the job. This section is especially important if an ATS is reading your resume.
Education
Include technical education, university education, high school education (maybe). Add special recognition, honors, etc.
This is a contributed blog post by Ronald G. Shapiro, PhD. Ron is a speaker and consultant in career development, leadership development and human factors/ergonomics. His work experience includes 23 years at IBM in human factors/ergonomics, human resources/corporate learning and management and college/university teaching. He has both a doctoral and master’s degree in psychology from the Ohio State University and a bachelor’s degree (also in psychology) from the University of Rochester. Ron is active in professional organizations for psychologists and business professionals.
Interested in submitting a contributed piece? Fill out our contact form.
I would like to thank Dr. Margarita Cossuto for a helpful review of this article. Margarita Cossuto, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow in clinical psychology at a private practice in Connecticut.