Quintessential Careers:
Resume Critique Worksheet for Job-Seekers
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.
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While it is always a good idea to get numerous people -- career professionals, former bosses and colleagues, mentors, and the like -- to review and evaluate your resume, you might want to first consider reviewing and critiquing your resume using this simple table. The most important thing to remember is to be sure you totally understand each criterion -- and then be completely honest on how your resume rates. (If you feel you cannot possibly be honest with yourself, then get a professional critique.)
In fact, we suggest reviewing some of the many resume resources available on Quintessential Careers, such as one of our resume tutorials, resume quizzes, or numerous resume samples. Remember the purpose of your resume -- to create enough interest from the employer to invite you to a job interview. A resume is a statement of facts (using keywords and action verbs) -- that highlights your accomplishments, skills, and education/training.
Here's a review of the ten factors you should use to evaluate your resume.
Appearance/Style. For traditional formatted “print” resumes, appearance and consistency are critical. Your resume must be professional. Stick to using only one to two “normal” fonts. Use font sizes no smaller than 10 point. Keep colors to a minimum. Be consistent in the use of color, font, size, and style (bolding, italicizing, underlining). Use normal (3/4-1”) margin widths. Don't use resume templates; develop your resume from scratch -- with your own unique style. Use bulleted phrases to describe your accomplishments, rather than lengthy (and hard-to-read) paragraphs. Read more.
Completeness/Length. A resume should give a complete picture of why you should be called for an interview; however, that does not mean you need to include every job you have ever worked at in your life. U.S. resumes should rarely be longer than two pages (although you can have supplemental pages for things such as grants, consulting, references, and the like), and for entry-level positions, really no longer than one page. Some senior executives with exceptional work experiences are sometimes deserving of a three-page resume.
Content/Layout. Use standard resume headings. All resumes must include certain critical information, such as contact information, experience, and education. Other sections include job objective, professional profile, honors and awards, professional interests and memberships, and keyword summary. U.S. resumes should never include names of supervisors, salary information, photos, or references. Read more. See some sample resumes.
Focus. Perhaps the most critical element of any resume is its focus. Your resume must have a specific theme -- related to the position (and employer) you are seeking. Do not include extraneous information on your resume. Whether you use a job objective or not, always keep that objective in mind when writing the rest of the resume. Your resume must be written in such a way that your job/career objective, as well as what you're good at, is obvious to anyone reading your resume.
Format/Approach. There are three types of resume formats: standard chronological, functional, and combined chrono-functional. Job-seekers with a steady employment history in one field looking to advance within that field should use a chronological resume that focuses on employment history (starting with most recent). Recent college grads with a variety of work experiences and job-seekers changing careers sometimes use a functional or chrono-functional resume. Read more.
Perspective. Review your resume from the perspective of a hiring manager with just a few seconds to review your resume. Your resume must be attention-getting, good-looking, and sharply focused. Your resume should provide the employer enough reasons to invite you for an interview.
Professionalism/Integrity. There's simply no excuse for resumes to have any kind of misspellings or typos. Employers often toss resumes with even just one error in the trash. The other issue is honesty. Your resume is a statement of facts, so do not fudge your dates of employment, job titles, certifications, or educational achievements. It's not only wrong, but more and more employers are conducting background checks.
Use of Accomplishments. In terms of job-hunting, nothing is more important than documenting all your accomplishments. It's even better if you can quantify those accomplishments. Employers want job-seekers who are problem-solvers with a proven record of success. Do not describe your experiences in terms of duties and responsibilities. Read more.
Use of keywords and action verbs. Action verbs are verbs that make your experience jump from the page. And while more important in the days before e-resumes, action verbs are still important today. Keywords and keyword phrases are vital because as more and more resumes are placed into large databases, employers search for job-seekers the same way you use Google to search a topic -- with one or more keywords. Read more about the power of keywords to enhance your resume. Review a detailed list of job-seeker action verbs.
Versions. Job-hunting today really requires more than one version of your resume. You still need your traditional "print" resume, but you'll also want to develop one or more electronic versions of your resume. E-resumes come in a number of versions, including Rich Text, Text (ASCII), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Web (HTML). Each type of e-resume has a different benefit, a different use. Read more.
You might also want to review these Resume Preparation Do's and Don'ts.
Evaluate your resume. How well does your resume perform? Have you followed all the rules and guidelines of good resume writing?
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Appearance/Style Is your resume visually appealing? |
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Completeness/Length Is your resume complete, but not too long? |
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Content/Layout Does your resume contain all the relevant information? |
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Focus Is your resume sharply focused to your job objective? |
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Format/Approach Are you using the proper format -- and do you need more than one format -- for your situation? |
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Perspective Does your resume have what it takes to get noticed by employers? |
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Professionalism/Integrity Is your resume free of errors? |
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Use of Accomplishments Have you identified one or more accomplishments for each experience? |
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Use of Keywords/Action Verbs Have you included keywords and action verbs in your resume? |
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Versions Do you have both print and electronic versions of your resume? |
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Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
Dr. Randall S. Hansen is founder of Quintessential Careers,
one of the oldest and most comprehensive career development sites on the Web, as well CEO of
EmpoweringSites.com. He is also founder of
MyCollegeSuccessStory.com and
EnhanceMyVocabulary.com. He is publisher of
Quintessential Careers Press,
including the Quintessential Careers electronic newsletter,
QuintZine. Dr. Hansen is also a
published author, with several books, chapters in books, and hundreds of articles. He's often
quoted in the media and conducts empowering workshops around the country. Finally, Dr. Hansen is
also an educator, having taught at the college level for more than 15 years. Visit his
personal Website or
reach him by email at randall(at)quintcareers.com.
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