Strategy
To write a résumé that properly positions the client, this is the first thing to clarify.
Who is the target audience?
This first line of a Summary replaced the traditional objective statement and identifies the client’s occupation or job target.
What is a headline?
This optional line may be included under a company name to provide additional insight about where a client worked.
What is a company description?
Include this section below the résumé summary for a student or recent graduate whose primary qualifications are academic.
What is Education?
When setting up a document, all 4 should be the same size and none smaller than 0.5."
What are the document margins?
This term refers to a person who writes for and in the name of another person, and is the role we perform as résumé writers.
What is a ghostwriter?
This optional section that many writers include in the Summary lists tanglible items and relevant job functions.
What is a Areas of Expertise or Core Competencies?
How you format and where you place this information on a résumé will help you emphasize or de-emphasize a client’s career chronology.
What are employment dates?
When a client has multiple publications, presentations/noteworthy speaking engagements, or other recognitions, create this supplemental document.
What is an Addendum?
Content/text contained within this will not be scanned/read by an applicant tracking system.
What is a text box?
Visualizing this geometric shape will help remind us to arrange the sections of the résumé with the most relevant qualifications first and the least relevant last.
What is an inverted pyramid?
This style of writing is often used incorrectly in a Summary section and is represented by action verbs that end in “s.”
What is third-person voice?
This section is written in paragraph format and informs the reader of the client’s primary responsibilities.
What is a job description/job scope paragraph?
Consider including one of these sections to illustrate activities that say something about the client’s character, leadership skills, or ability to set and meet challenges.
What is Volunteer Service or Hobbies?
The client's name, email or phone number, and page number are keyed here at the top of page 2.
What is an MS Word header?
This term refers to nouns and noun phrases in resumes and cover letters that match specific job postings and may include things such as degrees, skills, software applications, areas of expertise, and job functions
What are keywords?
“Seasoned professional and out-of-the-box thinker with a proven track record of success” is an example of this type of phrase often seen in a Summary.
What is a cliché or trite statement?
Capture attention quickly by structuring an accomplishment statement this way.
What is a front-loaded accomplishment?
It is an outdated practice to include this statement on a résumé.
What is "References provided upon request"?
Modifying this setting between lines of text that end in a hard return creates more white space and enhances readability.
What is incremental/paragraph spacing?
To avoid having an excessively long résumé, focus the experience content on what is relevant within this recommended time frame.
What is 10 to 15 years?
“Bilingual,” “willingness to travel or relocate” and “awarded multiple patents” are attributes you might include in a Summary to illustrate this.
What are some ways to distinguish a client?
Beginning two or more accomplishment statements with the word “Increased” is an example of this writing weakness.
What is a redundancy?
When describing a client’s military experience, avoid using a lot of military lingo that is represented by strings or clusters of capitalized letters.
What are acronyms and initalisms?
Including these before every line of text (core competencies, responsibilities, accomplishments) gives a resume an unappealing "polka-dot" look.
What are bullets/symbols?