First Impressions: Resume Tips

By Dara Golden

Many people regard resumes as a necessary evil. However, a résumé’s primary purpose is to get you an interview.

Managers form a first impression of a person by looking at their resume. Even if your resume shows that you meet all the job-specific qualifications, you may still not be interviewed if your resume is uninspiring. While this article cannot promise a dream job, it provides tips for making your resume better.

The Basics

As a writer, it might help to think of your resume as a user document:

Is it easy to read?
No spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors

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Is it easy to navigate?
Easy-to-read font, good layout, logical flow from one item to the next, including headers to new sections
Is the information accurate and complete?
Besides contact information, this includes noting contract positions and changed company names (such as “Red Hat, formerly Cygnus”)

A Checklist

If the basics have been met, you’re part of the way there. The following tips will improve your resume:

Include a specific objective

Many writers have diverse skills and it is important to let a hiring manager know what you would like to do and what you can bring to the job.

Vague: “A technical writing job.”

Specific: “A technical writing job where I can use my database and web design skills.”

Write in complete sentences

As you are a writer, your resume must demonstrate that you can write. This does not mean never using bullets; they are fine, especially when lists are necessary.

Example: Responsible for creating new user documentation with input from Marketing and Engineering.

Better: Working with the Marketing and Engineering departments, I created new user documentation.

Quantify

Numbers help readers quantify things. Whenever possible, use numbers or percents, such as document amounts, time spent/saved, or revenue generated.

Example: In one week, I created 12 online “How to” documents. They reduced support calls by 13% in the first week.

Include cover letter information in your resume

It was recently reported that 33% of all managers either never receive or never read cover letters. If you have important information in your cover letter, also include it in your resume.

Include other writing-related items

An “Other” section in your resume can serve as a catchall for other writing-related items, such as being an STC member, writing tutorials for new knitters, or editing your church newsletter.

Fill time gaps

If there is a gap of six months between jobs on your resume, note what you were doing. Large time gaps are noticed by employers and may prevent you from being interviewed.

With many people looking for jobs, your resume must stand out positively from other resumes. Using these tips will help you get noticed by hiring managers.

(This article is reprinted with permission from Devil Mountain Views, Newsletter of the Easy Bay Chapter of the STC, March/April 2004. Dara Golden is the DMV Contributing Editor and the former Interim Editor of Connection, the Silicon Valley Chapter’s newsletter.)

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