Résumé Tips

A well-constructed résumé is crucial to a successful job search. Employers will expect you to have a résumé and will learn valuable information about your skills and qualifications through this document.

Your résumé is usually the first piece of information about you that an employer will see. It serves as a tool to get you an interview, not necessarily a job. Your résumé should present you in the best, most accurate way possible to help you secure an interview.

The trained professionals at the PA CareerLink at Pottsville can help you prepare your résumé and cover letter. Search and register for résumé writing workshops here.

In the meantime, consider the following tips for your résumé and cover letter:

• Keep your résumé updated.
• Target your résumé to each specific job for which you are applying.
• Ensure your résumé is free of errors, including spelling, grammatical or typographical errors. Ask someone with a flair for grammar to review it for you.
• Refrain from including too much information; limit your résumé to one or two pages.
• Emphasize skills and awards rather than personal information such as hobbies, unless your hobbies are relevant to the position you seek.
• Choose a well-known, professional-looking font.
• Be professional, not casual, in all your business correspondence as you look for a job.
• Use only Times New Roman or Arial fonts and 10- or 12-point type only.
• Include professional references.

Important details to include on a résumé are:

• Your name, address, phone number and email address, which should be professional in nature
• Work history, including employers’ names, job titles and dates of employment
• Education and training
• Relevant skills
• Professional achievements and honors