Resume Writing Tips

There are many guidelines on how to write a resume, how to lay it out, and what information you should or should not include. The information below is Lawson Elliott’s approach to producing a resume that is easy to read and packed with facts that employers want to know.

Ideally your resume should be two to four pages in length, depending on your experience. If you are starting out your career it may only be one page, whilst if you are more experienced it may well stretch to five pages. Only the company name, job title and one or two lines are needed for any position held over ten years ago.

A general rule is to work in reverse chronological order when presenting your resume, giving priority to the most important points up front. The mark of a well-structured resume is where the decision makers can assess you on the first one or two pages of your resume and treat the rest as supplementary reading.

1. Contact and personal details

You should have your name, address, phone number, mobile number and email address centred at the top of the page. Only use professional sounding email addresses, this is a marketing document to promote yourself, so use a variation of your name. It is no longer common practice to include details under headings such as gender, age, marital status, religion, ethnicity or health. If you think displaying your birth date would be an advantage, then go ahead.

Whilst job hunting, it is essential that you are contactable. If you have not done so already, consider subscribing to voicemail for both your mobile and home phone.

2. Career objective/career overview

If you are a graduate or just have one or two years’ experience, a career objective statement may be used, but tailor it to each job you are applying for. For more experienced candidates, a career overview may be more suitable. This should provide the reader with a quick preview of what he or she will find in your resume and highlight your key strengths. It should just contain a few sentences and fall into one paragraph.

3. Education and professional memberships

Start with your professional qualification or highest qualification first. The level of detail depends on the balance between your qualifications and your work experience. It may be suitable for graduates with little experience to list selected University subjects and to include results if these are better than average.

4. Professional experience

The best resumes are brief and informative, so every word in this section must work hard for you. As a general rule, include the most detail about your current role. Employers don’t like mysteries so try and explain any gaps in your resume if you have been out of work.

5. Company and title

Make a decision whether the companies you have worked for are more important than your job titles. The most important should go first, followed by the other on a new line. A description of your employer may be appropriate if you are coming from oversees or have worked for a company that is largely unknown.

6. Responsibilities

Along with describing your duties and responsibilities, emphasise your achievements and show how you contributed to your employer’s business. Carefully consider how you can quantify your goals and achievements, if you can’t quantify them, question whether you should include them in your resume.

7. References

It is best to note that references are available upon request. Once you have been interviewed you can offer details of referees. Choose your references carefully, and remember to gain someone’s agreement before you provide their details as a referee. 

Do

  • Check and re-check spelling and grammar
  • Use a common and easy to read font
  • Make the best use of available space
  • Use page numbers (except on the front page)

Don't

  • Inlude a photo of yourself
  • Use clip art
  • Use a tiny font size or lines of italic
  • Trust your computer's spell check function
     

Your number one priority is to have a resume that is relevant to a particular role or potential opportunity. By emphasising key aspects of your background and the underlying competencies that make a connection between you and the requirements of the role, you will substantially increase your chances of success. You may only need to make subtle changes like emphasising key projects you have been involved in or a previous role you have worked in.

Refer to the position you are applying for and focus on the relevant points that highlight your key strengths and experience in relation to that job. At no point should your covering letter overshadow the content of your resume. The person screening your application may simply base their decision making on your resume alone, ignoring your covering letter.

Please speak to your Lawson Elliott Recruitment consultant to check whether a covering letter is necessary.

Employers are looking for a concise, readable document, outlining your experience, achievements and abilities. This will easily enable them to decide whether you should be shortlisted for an interview. No one gets a job based on their resume alone; refer to the interview advice section of this website for more information to assist you with the next stage.