Candidates
Resume Preparation
At Porter Consulting Group it is not uncommon for our consultants to read hundreds of resumes each week. So, how can you make yours stand out? Content is critical, but the presentation of your resume can make or break your chance of getting an interview. Consultants and employers don't have time to go through 20-page resumes, piece together a badly organised career history or attempt to read between the lines. Therefore, we have compiled our list of Do's and Don'ts to assist you when preparing your resume.
DO:
- Make your resume relevant to what you are applying for. Make it compelling and concise - it is your personal selling tool, so use it wisely!
- Ideally, keep your resume between 4 to 6 pages (and definitely no more than 8).
- The first page should include your contact details and career objectives or professional overview so prospective employers can read what you are ideally seeking from your next career move, but make sure these are relevant to the position you are applying for.
- Put your employment history in chronological order starting with the most recent position first and working back from there. There should be a logical flow and structure to your resume.
- Have a skills matrix if you have a particularly technical background or are in the information technology industry. Many recruiters and employers in technical fields look for these on job applications to assess your skills and abilities across your technical areas. If you are unsure of a skills matrix, then contact one of our Consultants for further information.
- Keep the font and font size simplistic throughout your resume - try not to use too many fancy fonts or swirls or curls as they can make your resume very difficult to read.
- Clearly delineate the sections in your resume - use bold headings, for example, to outline your work history, achievements and skills, etc.
- Keep the language simple and straightforward. Write for a broader audience rather than your work colleagues or manager and demonstrate that you understand the "bigger" picture with the business. We recommend that you use first person language, never third person.
- Check and double check the spelling and grammar in your resume - one of our biggest pet hates is spelling mistakes on a resume and it also demonstrates a poor attention to detail.
- Ask someone to proof read your resume - often a fresh eye can pick up errors or even make suggestions for improvements.
- Send a cover letter with your resume - keep the cover letter short and concise (usually one page) and match your experience and skills to the recruitment criteria in the letter. This is where you sell yourself and explain why you are the ideal person for the position.
DON'T:
- Send your resume via email to hundreds of potential employers without qualifying the position you are applying for (ie, is it suitable to me?). Tailor your resume and cover letter to suit. An application for a "Project Manager" with a career objective on the resume to pursue "events management" will only waste everyone's time.
- Provide every possible personal detail imaginable. You do not need to inform your potential employers about your private details. Things such as your marital status, date of birth, extended family member information, height & weight details, etc, is private information and should not be divulged on your resume. We recommend that you remove any personal information which could be interpreted incorrectly or worse still, could even be used to discriminate against you. If personal information is provided, then it should be dealt with in accordance with the Privacy Act.
- Include the names and contact numbers of your referees - instead just make note that referee details can be provided on request. This will deter potential employers from contacting people without your consent. You will need to give your consent to any person or company wanting to conduct reference or background checks.
- Embellish or exaggerate information contained in your resume. Many prospective employers nowadays conduct thorough background checks which will check to confirm the information you have provided is correct. This includes your qualifications, memberships, position titles, salary information, reasons for leaving, etc, etc.
- Email resumes or job applications from work email addresses! So many people have been caught out. We strongly encourage you to set up a private email address to facilitate any such communication, especially when job hunting. There are a number of free email facilities on the net such as hotmail or yahoo and are very simple to create.
- Include too much jargon, technical terms or acronyms only used in your industry or company. Often we see many educated candidate resumes which use too many big words and phrases. Perfectly adequate and simple sentences can quickly become distorted and vague so that the reader has to read three times before they know what is being said. People are more impressed by resumes which convey achievements and accountabilities in simple, clear, concise and unambiguous language.
- Ever criticise your current or previous employers in your resume. Make absolutely sure there is no criticism, even implied, of your current or previous employers, justified or not. It is unprofessional.
Thank you so much for the lovely delivery of chocolates I received this morning - it made my day! I am so grateful for all that Porter's have done for me. From the first day I met you, you were all warm, welcoming and friendly and I can't thank you enough for giving me this new job opportunity ... I won't let you down!
