Resume Checklist

 

Get their attention with a well written resume.  At the Job Interview you will be glad you followed this list:

 

Heading

• Include your name, address, telephone number and email address.
• Make sure your name, telephone number and page number is on the second page if you have one.

Objective/Summary

• Does the objective include the job title and/or required abilities specified by the employer?
• Be sure everything in the resume supports the objective and does not contradict it.

 

Qualifications/Skills

• Make sure your qualifications contain keywords that name requirements for the job.
• Are the qualifications you state relevant to your stated job objective?  Are all your major strengths included?

 

Education

• If your education supports your job objective better than your work experience, have you placed the education segment first or vice versa?
• Have you emphasized courses, internships, degrees, certificates and so on to best support your objective?
• If your GPA or Major(s) is impressive, include it.
• Have you correctly stated all of your technical certifications and credentials?

 

Work Experience

• Does each job listing contain the company's name, city/state and your job title?
• Does each job listing describe your accomplishments supported by specific results and numbers where ever possible?
• Are your job descriptions written using specific action verbs and keyword nouns that support your job objective?
• If your work experience is limited, have you included relevant paid and non-paid internships and volunteer or other pertinent activities?
• Have you ensured that there are no gaps between employment dates?

 

Related Activities

• Have you included professional and other organizations that support your job objective?
• Have you included any relevant awards or achievements?

 

Look and Feel

• Is the overall design appealing?
• Have you been consistent with font style and size? (Don't use more than two fonts)
• Have you been consistent with bullet style and size?
• Does everything line up properly?
• Have you checked for grammar, spelling and punctuation?  Don't use any abbreviations and write out all numbers except for version numbers.
• Is the content organized and presented in order of importance to your objective.
• Have you devoted more space to recent or relevant jobs than earlier ones?
• Do not include "References available upon request" as this is considered a given.

 

Resume Key Words

 

It is recommended to use "keywords" throughout your resume.  Automated scanning systems however still can place emphasis or score specific keywords so make sure you use as many "keywords" on the first page as possible.  Kewords are nouns and noun phrases used by employers and recruiters while searching through resume databases and we-based job sites looking to fill a positiion.  Your correct use of the best keywords assists you in being found.

 

Keywords can be considered both mandatory or optional by automatic scanning programs.  Generally, the more specific a keyword is to a job the more heavily it will be weighted.  Yes, this means you will need to customize, by some amount, each resume for a particular job.

 

Try to use 20 -35 keywords throughout your resume with as many as possible front-loaded.  If you meet the mandatory keyword criteria and have a dense keyword loaded resume you will most likely make it to the next level of screening, typically by a human.