Three Tips for Better Resumes - Sterling Career Concepts

Three Tips for Better Resumes Three Tips for Better Resumes If you’re interested in helping your resume stand out to potential employers, here are three tips for improving your resume’s readability: 1. Break up large amounts of text Create a document that your reader will want to read! Break up large blocks of text. Bullets should be 2-3 lines max. Summary paragraphs should be 5-7 lines max, and paragraphs within a job entry approximately 5 lines max as well. Adding white space and breaking large amounts of text into smaller blocks adds to the pages readability and helps keep the readers attention. 2. Make your bullet points count Reserve bullets for actual achievements. Make each of your bullets worthy of receiving a bullet point. Answer the question so what? or how did this benefit or help the company? for the reader. Lead with the result, and quantify your accomplishments whenever possible with dollar amounts, percentage improvements, or other figures. Content that is more descriptive of what you did in that position can be included in short paragraph form. This way, the content that is bullet-pointed will jump off the page for the reader and have the opportunity to make an impact and stand out. If there are too many bullet points, they blend together and lose their impact. Aim for no more than 4-5 bullets per job entry. If you truly have 8-9-10 bullets for one job position, break the bullets up into 2-3 labeled subcategories to maintain readability. 3. Incorporate charts and graphs Whats one of the best ways to improve the readability of your resume? Insert a chart or graph to break up a page of full text. Graphs can be powerfully effective at showcasing improving sales or revenue trends or increasing number of accounts under management. Charts can be helpful to highlight key financial points or lists of clients or products. Incorporating these ideas will help your resume earn a place at the top of the pile, instead of in the literal or virtual recycling bin.