Tips for Writing Better Resumes

USE ATTRACTIVE FORMATTING

Five minutes. That's all you have to grab the reader's attention and market yourself effectively. You can achieve this with attractive formatting.
The key is to have a good balance of white space and text. Your résumé should not look empty, nor should it overwhelm the reader with text. Keep margins of at least 1" on all sides (some companies may still keep your résumé "on file" i.e. in three-ring binders). Make the résumé readable by using a minimum of a 10-point font for text and 11-point for headings. Use, at most, three levels of formatting (normal text, bold, and italics) or else it will distract the reader. Remember, although you want to get the reader's attention, do so with communicative titles and descriptions rather than with fancy fonts and graphics.
A badly formatted résumé will look sloppy. If you submit such a document, you might as well forget about the interview.

COVER THE BASICS
The key point here is to not complicate matters for the reader. They should be able to obtain all pertinent information about you without moving from their chair.  So, make sure that your résumé contains the following information.

• Contact Information
  
• Objective
  
• Education
  
• Work Experience
  
• Computer Skills
  
• Other Skills
  
• Sports
  

If you have many years of experience, you can also provide a summary of your skills before the "Experience" and "Education" sections.

I've seen many résumés where people forgot to list their phone numbers, had glaring holes in their work experience and schooling, or did not mention their objective. Such deficiencies raise questions in the mind of the reader, and make his or her life more difficult by asking them to find information. Do you really want to do that, especially when there are hundreds of people applying for the same job?

BE CONCISE AND COMMUNICATE RELEVANT INFORMATION

In the high-tech world, it is likely that managers who appreciate brevity will evaluate your résumé. So, keep the length in check. Follow the general rule of the thumb, one page for every eight years of experience. Also, don't repeat information.
However, do not err on the side of extreme conciseness. The goal is to communicate your experience and separate yourself from the competition.

USE ACTION AND POWER WORDS

A conscious effort must be made to use action and power words in your résumé. The types of words you can use depend on the job function. If you are applying for a management position, then use words like "Managed, supervised, led," etc. If you are applying for an engineering position, then incorporate words such as "Designed, developed, debugged," etc. A list of action words can be available through online thesauruses, reference books on résumé writing, and even paper manufacturing companies. Remember, it is also important to communicate teamwork and leadership qualities, especially if you are applying for a managerial position.

BE FAMILIAR WITH THE INFORMATION

An interviewer does not want to hear "Well, I worked on that project a long time ago and so I cannot answer your question." This is unacceptable and you have just shot yourself in the foot. If you are not familiar with the material, it conveys that either you did not do the work, or that you forget easily and cannot leverage off past experience, or that you have prepared poorly for the interview. Bottom line, either exclude such information from your résumé, or familiarize yourself with it.

BE CONSISTENT

It's fine to be creative, but consistency plays a far more important role. It conveys a logical and organized thought process and leaves a positive impression in the engineering-centric high-tech world. Here's an example of consistency: When providing a summary of your accomplishments, begin each line item with an action word, as shown below by the underlined text.

• Created and executed strategy to triple product line revenues in two years.
  
• Defined and developed four product families encompassing over 30 devices to meet revenue goals.
  
• Wrote all product data sheets and collateral for these 30 products.

DON'T LIE

You will be caught. Enough said.

BE BUZZWORD COMPLIANT

Since screening is routinely performed by software, you must use buzzwords on your résumé. Don't enumerate everything in your repert, but do list basic skills that are necessary for the job, or are currently in demand. Obviously, include these abilities only if you possess them.

PERFORM SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECKS

Most good interviewers do not accept more than three minor mistakes in a résumé, since it indicates your inability to perform high-quality work. Hence, after you have completed your résumé, check for spelling and grammar errors. All word processing packages include tools to do the same, so that's going to be your first level check. Additionally, have someone proof read the document to catch errors missed by the software.

Some common errors that I have see on résumés are: random double spaces between words, two periods at the end of a sentence, misspelling your University or company name, missing prepositions in a sentence, and a lack of commas in a long sentence.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR RÉSUMÉ

One résumé does not fit all. It's okay to customize the résumé based on the job requirements. Customization sells your skills more effectively and results in more job interviews for you.

When applying for the job, don't forget the cover letter. The purpose of this document is to augment your résumé's critical sections (i.e. those that are applicable to the target job). The maximum length of a cover letter is one-half of a page, ideally separated into three paragraphs. The first tells the reader how you heard of the job, the second discusses your relevant skills, and the third tells the reader why you are a great fit. It goes without saying that a cover letter must be concise.

Since email is now very popular, a short cover letter can be written in the text of the email. However, email does raise the question of how to submit your résumé. In this case, the fundamental rules always apply: follow the company directions, and if they don't specify, ask. If you get no response, use the default, which is a text email with a Word attachment.

If you feel the need to work with a résumé professional, there are many online providers of résumé writing and reviewing services. Select one that has experience in your field of work, and understands your requirements well. But remember, only you are responsible for the contents, look, and feel of your résumé, and you should treat it with the utmost importance.