THE BEECHMONT CREST CAREER GUIDE:
SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN THE CORPORATE JUNGLE
CHAPTER 2: WINNING RESUMES
Three more resume tips….
1. Don’t be too indulgent with fonts.
Use one of the standard fonts that are common in business documents (Times New Roman, Arial, Bookman, etc.) rather than something flashy like Bradley Hand ITC or Chiller. Use only one font throughout the resume. Items such as headers can be set apart by varying the font size and weight, and by underlining.
2. Tailor your resume to each job category for which you apply.
Each potential employer is looking for something slightly different. The qualifications and experience that you list on your resume should be written and rewritten with each target audience in mind.
Suppose that you have worked extensively in the closely related fields of sales and marketing. Company A may be looking for a candidate with strong market research and analysis skills, whereas Company B seeks a candidate with extensive personal sales experience (cold calling, new account development, etc.)
If you apply for both jobs, you should not send both companies the exact same resume. For the Company A position, prepare a resume which emphasizes your marketing background. In the resume that you send to Company B, on the other hand, you should highlight your field sales experience.
You could elect to write a more generic resume that gives equal emphasis to your sales and marketing experience, and use it for all the jobs for which you apply. However, this “one-size-fits-all” approach is not as effective as the customized resume. Your goal is to convey through your resume that you, among all candidates, are uniquely suited for the particular job.
3. Create multiple versions of your resume to cover all the common formats.
You will need to multipurpose your resume for different situations. You should prepare two electronic versions: one version in Microsoft Word, and one in the Portable Document Format (PDF). Also prepare a print version on high-quality paper.
Mail your resume in an 8.5” x 11” envelope
1. ) Good things may come in small packages—but large packages are opened first. Think about your own habits: when you retrieve the daily mail from your mailbox, you probably open the large envelopes first. This tendency holds for most people at the office, as well.
2.) Not only do large envelopes get opened first, but they are also less prone to misplacement. It is harder to lose a large envelope.
3.) If you mail your resume in a large envelope, you won’t have to fold it, so it won’t have any distracting crease marks when it is passed around.
Copyright 2006 Beechmont Crest Publishing