Your resume is your promotional material for yourself. As such, you sometimes tend to go overboard when crafting the perfect resume in an attempt to showcase your assets to potential employers. While it’s natural to put some creativity and passion into this document about yourself, remember a few things your resume is NOT, so you don’t overdo it.
1. A novel. When creating your resume, try to keep it to one or two pages maximum. Offer enough detail to call attention to your abilities, but not so much that you bore the examiner to tears.
2. A dictionary or a crossword puzzle. This means that you must avoid an overload of professional jargon that the initial tester cannot understand. Reserve the technical terms for the interview with your immediate superior with whom you are on an equal footing in terms of skills. When you submit your resume, your first goal is to get past the company’s first line of defense, usually someone from human resources, who may not be able to fully understand your terminologies, who has to consult a thesaurus on every sentence. .
3. A canvas or a work of art. Just remember to slow down your artistic tendencies a bit. Even if you’re applying for a position in the arts department, remember that resumes are supposed to look professional.
When creating your resume, your font should not be too fancy and colorful as if you just learned how to use a computer for the first time. Especially if you’re submitting your resume electronically, try to use standard fonts like Arial, New Times Roman, and Tahoma because the font you’re probably using may not be available on someone else’s computer, the data will look like a string . of exclamation marks and a host of other punctuation marks.
Similarly, try to stick to white bond paper as much as possible. Red flags will definitely go up if you send a stationery printed resume.
4. One size fits all things generic. The job description of an account officer at one company may not be the same for another. Learn how to create a tailored resume based on the job description you’re applying for.
5. Come to stoke your ego. In short, be honest and don’t overstate your credentials. Resume screeners just know it. And even if they don’t, their color will definitely show during the interview.
Creating a resume is a fun and productive activity. While the possibilities are endless for creating the perfect resume, just don’t get carried away, lest you risk having your resume thrown in the trash before it’s appreciated.
