Resume Tips from the professionals

As professionals, we want to provide you with the best chance of success! The tips provided will assist you in your applications and we will regularly update them for you.

Resume Tips

Key Reasons for Resume Failure

Many people talk about resume basics and what you need to get right about your resume; very rarely do people provide you an insight onto what might be wrong with your resume.

With these key points we wish to provide you with an understanding of where you might be going wrong with your resume.

Too much white space

It is important that you attract the readers attention to the words on the page, not the large amount of white space that can occur due to over formatting. This can be achieved through using left aligning, only centering headings and personal information, and using only single line spacing.

Too Pretty or over-formatting

Some individuals believe that standing out through fancy formatting is a way to get the readers attention – with the introduction of software based keyword search tools and resume scanning this is both irrelevant as well as dangerous. It is important to stick to a formal and professional standard with formatting and eliminating any pictures or graphics unless the position you are applying for is creative or artistic. If this is the case, it is important that your formatting demonstrates this however ensuring that it is also readable.

Irrelevant Career Objective

Your career objective is important to demonstrate to the reader why they have received your document. If you are applying for a number of different positions, you must ensure that your career objective is related to the position you are applying to. This may mean that you have to write a new career objective for different applications however if your reader does not understand the reason for your application, they may use this to eliminate you from the application process.

Too long or too short

The number of pages for your resume will depend on the type of position that you are applying for. As an inexperienced graduate or young professional, too many pages may make you appear over qualified or arrogant to the reader, on the other hand, for senior executives too few pages may make you appear under confident or in experienced. You must ensure that your page length relates to the type of position that you are applying for and the industry expectations for that position.

Poor grammar and language skills

Your resume is the first introduction a person has to you. For this reason, if your language skills are poorly demonstrated throughout your resume, including grammar, spelling, punctuation and correct use of words, you demonstrate that you do not meet the basic standards of literacy. If you have poor written language skills, it is strongly recommended to have someone else write the document for you or assist you in editing the document otherwise this will be the reason for your elimination from the application process.

Incorrect contact details

Many people do not proof read their resumes, and many individuals get their own contact details incorrect. Ensure that you triple check that the phone number or email address provided on your resume is correct – a recruiter will not email you to ask you the correct phone number if they cannot get hold of you!

To ensure a successful resume, basic points to focus on include:

• Be clear and concise
• Ensure your career objective is tailored to your position or industry
• Define yourself as an individual
• Highlight desirable professional qualities about yourself
• Utilise bullet points
• Keep it within a reasonable page limit