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Health & Fitness

Tips on resume writing from a 30-year veteran recruiter.

Resume, writing, rules, avoid age descrimination

The job market is tough. Companies are not looking for the right person to fill their job; they are looking for the perfect person to fill their job which frustrates qualified job seekers.

This is the first in a series of columns that can give you a competitive edge in conducting a job search and interviewing. This first column covers the resume.

All of your contact information needs to be at the top of the page. Include your name, your email address and cell phone number. There is no need to include your street address unless you feel the need to do so. Your home town and state are enough.

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Start with a “Summary Statement” paragraph of your technical experience, not your job search objective. The paragraph should not exceed three sentences and should not be more than 4 lines in length. Include your key titles, employers, skills and computer and software expertise.

Next list your “Work Experience” beginning with your most recent position and go back not more than 10 years. While state law prohibits age discrimination it still happens and at many of the most “politically-correct” companies in America. In fact you have likely been a victim of age discrimination and not even know it.

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List the company’s name, city and state followed by the years - not the months you worked there. On the next line list your title. On the following lines break your duties into accomplishment statements bullets rather than listing your duties. Demonstrate what you did with your skills thereby demonstrating how you can be of value to a potential employer. Repeat this throughout your resume. Use bullets instead of long narrative paragraphs to help hold the readers attention but do not exceed 3 lines for any bulleted accomplishment.

Next list your education, beginning with your highest degree received. List the degree and school. Do not include your graduation date. You will give away your age. If your education consists of high school only you can list some of the on the job or extension school classes you took. If you have a college degree, do not list your high school.

Next list any licenses or certificates you have for example MS Office or Quickbooks.

Finally, list any on-the-job training you have including all computer software like Quickbooks, Outlook and Excel.

Forget “references available upon request”. Everyone knows you will supply references and it is a waste of space.   

Keep in mind that your resume should not exceed 2 pages in length. The type face should be no smaller than 11 point type. Use a simple font that can easily be scanned should an employer choose to do so. Set 1 inch margins around your resume.

I hope these simple recommendations help you to improve your resume and give you a competitive interviewing edge. Please watch the patch for more helpful job search tips.

 

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