Step Four:
Check It Out/Organize It/Print It!
Review your resume using a blank slate -- that is, from the perspective of someone who has never met you and has no earthly idea of who you are or what you're up to. Your resume, and the employer-specific cover letters you will write in response to different leads, must introduce you, tell the recipient about you, and make him or her be sufficiently impressed to want to interview you.
As you proofread your resume, make sure it is simple, clear, doesn't waste words, is relevant to the employer, and contains no errors in grammar, punctuation, consistency (see style sample in the Appendix), or overall usage. If you underline or boldface the name of an employer or some other resume entry in one place, underline or boldface similar parts of entries for other employers elsewhere in the resume. Part of making a good impression is proving that you pay attention to detail, so be consistent.
Organizing your resume means typing it in any customary format; see the Appendix for an example. If you can get it typeset (a service offered by many "quick printing" outlets for relatively little money), so much the better.
For printing, go to a quick print outlet and ask to see a selection of papers. Most places show you the kind of cheap paper that's usually used to print circulars that wind up on your car's windshield in a parking lot. Wrong! Your resume represents you. In the mind of a potential employer, you are only as good as your resume looks. Use high quality "bond" paper with a watermark; have a few hundred printed and get an equal quantity of unprinted paper of the same type for your cover letters. All paper should be 8 1/2 x 11.
One final note about writing your resume. Be sure you don't over-detail it. Write too much, and your resume will quickly overflow the one-page limit. Another big reason to keep resumes no longer than a page is so you save some real "meat" for your interview!
For example, credit yourself with initiatives wherever possible. Example:
Conceived, proposed, organized, introduced, and administered a company-wide Expense Reduction Awards Program. Savings: $1.3 million in six months.
This tells prospective employers that you think about their needs; act on those thoughts; and can get results from your actions. At your interview, bring a copy of your proposal and relevant promotional materials and letters of praise from management. That way you can sell your accomplishments and yourself to your prospective employers without overloading your resume.
Now . . . print it! (Scroll down for more!!!)
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