Confessions of a Resume Snob

Hello, my name is Stephanie Hood, and I am a “resume snob.”

After more than 10 years in professional recruiting, I have seen thousands of resumes. So, when the subject of resume writing arises, imagine me letting out a little laugh with my nose in the air as I sip tea while flaunting a raised pinky to further emphasize my authority on such matters. (Can you see it? Perfect!)

While the ridiculous image of my faux-haughty stance hopefully makes you smile, there is more than a grain of truth in the overarching implications. Want a resume that will be hailed as your pièce de résistance?

Yes? Then you MUST adhere to this fundamental list, which I whittled down to 10.

10 RESUME GROUND RULES

1. DOCUMENT/FILE NAME:
Create a document name for your resume that is professional such as “Joe Smith – RESUME” or “Joe Smith – Marketing Director.”
The naming convention is important because when you email or upload your resume to apply for a job, the document should not be blatantly generic (Ex. “RESUME 2016”) or look like you have an identity crisis such as “Joe Smith Resume – Version 17.”

2. CONTACT INFO:

Contact information should be visible, professional, and correct.

Visible: Don’t “hide” your contact information in strange sections of your resume or in footers, which are often “grayed out” and difficult to see.

Professional: Inappropriate email addresses such as “gimmeabeer” or “justinbieberismyhero” are sure-fire ways to immediately be perceived as unprofessional.
(Don’t believe me? Read this article about email addresses by snagajob.)

Correct: Duh. This should REALLY go without saying, but since I receive an inordinate number of resumes with incorrect email addresses and phone numbers, it seemed worth mentioning.

3. INTRO SECTION: OBJECTIVE vs. SUMMARY:

Objective = Old School In days of yore, resumes typically began with an OBJECTIVE. These objective statements were usually comprised of an awkward, clunky, incomplete sentence about the objective/goal of the job seeker that was often edited to match the title of each job to which he/she applied (For example, “Objective: To secure a position as a Marketing Director at XYZ company.”)

Summary = Present By including a SUMMARY as your introduction, you are able to guide the resume reader by providing the “lenses he/she should wear” to review the information. I often encourage candidates to cast a net that is broad yet focused by providing a title, experience summary, and primary skills to direct the reader. For example: “Marketing Director with more than 15 years’ experience creating brand awareness, leading teams, and increasing market share for various medium-sized to Fortune 500 companies.” Ideally, the summary statement should be 1-3 sentences, which should either include a summation of high-level skills or be followed by a bullet-point list of those skills.

4. FLUFF VERBIAGE

You are a “team player,” “hard worker,” and “good communicator.” So is everyone else applying for your job.
Do not waste your valuable resume real estate with fluff verbiage boasting about skills that any worthwhile employee should have. Honestly, if you are going to be that vague, you might as well add “breathing” to your list of skills.

5. FORMATTING

Length (1-page vs. multipage): There is a long-standing/outdated “1-page resume rule,” which was formerly necessary due to pages getting separated when sent by fax machines, etc. Those days are OVER.

We now live in a virtually “paperless era” where resumes rarely get printed and keywords are king. Therefore, it is important to include relevant keywords and not abbreviate your experience into oblivion.

• New Graduates: Your resume should likely still fit onto one page.

• Seasoned Professionals: If you have held a number of jobs, your resume will likely continue onto a second page...or more!

Boxes & Tables: Whether it’s your resume or an overly cluttered room, too many boxes and tables are annoying. Avoid using “text boxes” and “data tables,” which make resume editing a nightmare!

Above the Fold: The old term “above the fold” typically refers to the upper half of a newspaper’s first page that generally displays the most important/sensational stories to capture customers’ attention, but the idea is important in resume writing too!

Font Fanatic: Decide if you are going to use a serif or san serif font because alternating between the two looks messy. Personally, I tend to prefer classic fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial (Seriously, no one wants to read a resume in Bauhaus 93 or Comic Sans!). If you need variation to break up resume sections or highlight your employer/job title, the font you’ve chosen can be easily altered by changing size or boldface. Whatever you do, pick a font and stick with it! A final thought regarding fonts: professional resume fonts are still predominantly black with SOME room for variation, but your resume should not look like an art project.

6. BULLET POINTS

Resumes with huge, lengthy, overly-verbose paragraphs make it hard for the eye to “visually digest it.” FACT: Bullet points are your friends.

7. EMPLOYMENT DATES
List dates for all relevant professional employment in reverse-date order (most recent employer should be first).

8. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT: NO-NO ITEMS TO REMOVE Resumes should NOT include age, marital status, religious views, irrelevant hobbies, or photos.

Did she really say, “NO PHOTOS?!”
Yep. If you really want someone to see your pretty face, update your LinkedIn profile…and for heaven’s sake, make sure you have something more polished than a car/gym selfie!

9. REFERENCES Your professional references’ contact information should NOT be included in your resume. Create a separate document that can be provided upon request.

10. SPELLING ERRORS, TYPOS, & POOR GRAMMAR

Don’t.

BOOM. DONE. No, not yet…Almost!

Now that you have reviewed your resume with the aforementioned tips in mind, upload your completed resume to this fantastic resume review tool from The Ladders: http://www.theladders.com/resume. This online tool reviews your resume for effectiveness, then it offers notations with edit suggestions, which include catching minor errors that are often missed even by rock star recruiters and resume snobs (Ahem!).

FINAL TIP – RE: EMAIL SUBJECT LINE

As a recruiter, I receive hundreds of emails with the subject line “Resume.” Really?? You did not spend ALL this time and energy creating this gorgeous resume to get lost in the mix, right? Doesn’t something like “Joe Smith for Marketing Director in Houston, Texas” seem like a better way to get noticed? Do yourself and favor and use an effective email subject line when you submit your resume.

Resume snob…OUT!

For additional resources click on the links below.

Click here for resume tips.

Click here for interview tips.

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Article originally published via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/confessions-resume-snob-stephanie-hood?trk=prof-post

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