Résumé Reform
January 5th, 2010 Posted in Self Help | 3 Comments »
Happy New Year, now back to business.
At the last productive meeting of the Free Birds, we reviewed the flock’s assorted biographies and résumés. This is what we liked:
• Testimonials
• Indentations, bullets and clean organization
• Brevity
• Third-person narrative rather than first-person voice
• Chronological ordering starting with most recent entries
• White space
Of course, unique paper stocks, distinctive imagery and beautiful typography and graphic design were also appreciated. Like a crow with a shiny object, we creative birds may have been caught up in the pretty things a bit. But each of us left with a specific to-do list for improving the content of her résumé.
Some references to consider that I borrowed from the local library, yes, LIBRARY:
“Perfect Phrases for Résumés” by Michael Betrus – came in handy when I ran out of ways to say “Experienced”. Some favorites:
• Instrumental in….
• Extensive involvement in….
• Personally responsible for….
• Consistently….
• Expert in developing…..
“101 Great Résumés” by Ron Fry - As a graphic designer, visual organization is second-nature to me, so it was interesting to see the array of organizational approaches and visual styles that the birds presented at our meeting. This book lists 19 tips to a “great looking résumé” including:
1. Limit your résumé to one or two pages.
7. Don’t mix typefaces.
11. Use generous margins.
18. Shorten your line length.
As with everything, there are no absolutes and a grain of salt may be taken with any of these “perfect tips”.