I had a colleague call me and ask about resumes. So here is what I told her in a nutshell.
I am not going to remove you from consideration if:
– you use a funny font.
– you right align, center align, use a line in – your text.
– you bold the first letter of each bullet.
– you use periods. you don’t use periods.
– you use an objective, you don’t use an objective, you use a summary of qualifications, you don’t use a summary of qualifications.
– you list an address or you don’t list an address.
I don’t care about the little things. We don’t have ISO standards for resumes – at least not that all professionals agree on.
What I DO care about is this:
– I can understand your experience.
– I can easily see your accomplishments.
– I can see your progressive career; if you have taken time off, it’s clear.
– your skills match my needs.
– you spell words correctly and use punctuation when needed.
And I care deeply about cover letters. Write a good one.
