• Make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors. Yes, it’s silly thing to ask, but if you are in recruiting business you know how many resumes are just getting ignored because of this.
  • Update title and key points to job position you are applying to. It’s not cheating, it’s just replacing what you think is interesting with what might be interesting for potential employer. Make it as changing priorities and not lying.
  • One page only please. More than that - and it might feels fake and watery.
  • Remove you responsibilities and replace them with projects completed and goals accomplished.
  • If you are over 40 you don’t have to put all your work history. Last 10-15 years in most of cases will be enough.
  • If in the recent 10-15 years you were working for only one employer list all your positions or major projects.
  • No pictures. No flashy stuff – some people will throw it away without reading. No fancy or colored paper. Just plain white/ivory paper. Only black font. Think that you resume might be copied/faxed and by that quality of everything that is not contrast might go bad.
  • Bullets with short sentences will always look better than one big long paragraph.
  • Get 3rd party advice. Ask your friends what do they think and do not accept “looks good”. Ask them what they would improve.
  • Quantify your experience. Put some numbers, percents, dollar amounts, time periods, etc.
  • Try to begin most of sentences with action words.
  • Stay away from hobbies and interests.
  • Expect that resume might not be read in full. Most of reviewers will just scan it for 10-15 seconds. Make sure that all key points will be noticed.