How to Make Your Résumé Shine

Your résumé is a work-in-progress. You will probably revise it dozens of times during your career.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Computers
• Printers
• résumé software
• résumé paper

1. Gauge the relevance of your résumé to your current career goals.

2. Add, then highlight, action words such as "promoted" and "increased."

3. Sprinkle your résumé liberally with industry buzzwords to demonstrate your insider know-how.

4. Tailor your previous job responsibilities - within reason - to best match the description of the position you want.

5. Use the active voice and bullet points to make information easier to digest. Steer clear of passive verbs.

6. Fit your résumé onto one page, no matter how extensive your experience.

7. Choose stationery with a little personality. Or, if you are interested in high-technology fields, send your résumé by e-mail.

8. Plan to send your résumé so that it arrives at an opportune time.

9. Leave lots of space on all four margins.

Tips & Warnings

• If sending your résumé via e-mail, use standard fonts and avoid bolding, underlining or italicizing text.

• Leave out information about your race, age or political, religious or sexual orientation.

• Print your résumé on a high-quality laser printer or new ink jet printer for crisp letters. Avoid using dot matrix and old ink jet printers that can smear and blur.