What is a resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV)?

A resume is simply a listing of things that tell an employer what you know and what you’ve done in the past. Curriculum Vitae is Latin for “course of life” and is essentially the same document.

While it sounds simple, it’s very hard to actually create a single page that describes everything about you that an employer wants to know. That means you have to pick and choose what you put on the resume and what you’ve learned in your jobs, hobbies and education to best highlight what makes you better than somebody else.

Since every job and every employer are looking for slightly different things in a job applicant, you should create a special resume for every single job you apply to.

The resume you give to a potential employer should fit into a single page. Some recruiters simply ignore the second page, so keep it to one page. If you have more experience that can fit on a single page, use LinkedIn as your extended resume and be sure to reference it as part of your contact information.

Details Matter

Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation is super important in your resume. Many a recruiter will move your resume to the bottom of the pile as soon as they see misspelled words, improper grammar or even inconsistent spelling (when words are used multiple times on your resume but spelled differently).

Common reasoning for insisting on perfect spelling is that the job being applied for requires precision and attention to details so it “makes sense” to insist that resumes get submitted in perfect form.

  • Take your time creating your resume
  • Proof read your resume multiple times
  • Ask others to review your resume

Good Resumes are not Modest

Many people are brought up to be modest and never brag about themselves or their deeds. While that’s a great feature in general life, modesty is not appropriate while job hunting. You should never lie while hunting for a job, but be sure to point out what makes you a better hire than others applying for the same job. If this feels like bragging, you need to start bragging on your resume.

The resume is the one place where you should brag about everything that sets you apart and above from other job applicants

Be Truthful and Accurate

Your resume will eventually get sent to the team you want to join, where a manager will decide whether they want to interview you or not, so make sure what’s in your resume is accurate and you can explain any detail in your resume. As an example, do not list COBOL as a computer language you understand if you can’t write a simple program in it. You can say that you understand HTML/CSS even though it was 4 years ago and you haven’t kept up with all the latest changes (of course, be ready to explain that you’re a little out of date).

Case Studies

If you’re really in a rush and want to see the dos and don’ts as quickly as possible, visit our case studies of how original resumes and job descriptions were optimized to get the job for the applicant.

Next: Master Resumes