How to Write a Résumé: Bringing You Closer to Your Dream Job

When looking for and applying for a job, résumés are very important. They are your ticket to your dream job and future career. Prospective employers form their first impression of you based on what they see on your résumé. They base their initial decision on whether or not you are worthy of their time based on what's written on it.

In writing a résumé, it is not only the details that are contained and written in your résumé that is important. Even the form, presentation, and the paper used matters. All of these things are being considered by the employers in trying to decide whether or not they should call you to go to the next step of the application, which is often the interview.

When preparing a résumé for a job, here are some tips you can follow to make your résumé a winner.

1. Include an objective in your résumé. In brief sentences, state what your personal goals are for the company. Make it clear but comprehensive. This is among the first items that your prospective employer will be able to read thus, you should be able to catch his attention just with it.

2. Indicate your contact information. Place it either in the header or the footer of your résumé, just as long as potential employer would be easy to see them. Contact information is important because without it, companies would have no means of contacting you. Do not limit yourself to your phone number. Also include your complete mailing address, mobile phone number, and email address.

3. Highlight your best qualifications. Arrange the items in your résumé according to relevance and importance. If you are a newly graduate, it is common to put educational attainment first. If you have previous job experiences, on the other hand, they often come before educational background. Put the most relevant and recent first. Include the time for each job or course, the name of the company, school or organization, and a job description in the case of employment history.

4. In writing your qualifications, use the active voice instead of the passive.

5. Plan your lay out. Do not use too many letter styles and font sizes. Use fonts that look formal and avoid those that are too fancy as they will only make your résumé appear informal and hard to read. Do not use very small fonts, as well. Avoid making your résumé appear cluttered. As a basic rule, make it plain, simple, and comprehensive.

6. As much as possible, make your résumé short. A page is usually enough, except if it is technical or needs to contain details that cannot be taken out.

7. Proofread your résumé a couple of times before submitting or sending them to potential employers. Make sure that all spellings and grammars are correct. The employer might be turned off by too many grammatical mistakes.

8. Write a cover letter to include in your résumé to make it appear more customized and make you look more interested.

9. Use good quality papers and print in good quality printers.