How to Write a Resume Guaranteed to Land You an Interview

When putting together your resume, the most important thing to remember is that your goal is to sell yourself to a potential employer.

You have to think of your resume as an advertisement for yourself. The hiring manager has to dig through dozens or even hundreds of resumes, most of which will receive only a cursory scan and then get tossed aside. But your resume must be different if you want a real chance at the job.

Your resume must stand out and interest the reader enough to bring you in for an interview. Your resume is the key to getting your foot in the door.

Let's go over some of the main points you need to learn about writing a resume that will make an employer want to learn more about you.

Format

Presentation is important. An ugly resume may get thrown away without ever being read. Try to fit everything on one page, two at the most. Use plain white paper and a standard font such as Arial or Courier. Fancy colors and fonts will make you stand out, but for all the wrong reasons.

Use wide borders and leave plenty of white space to make it easier to read. Stay away from long paragraphs or blocks of text. Use short, snappy bullet points for maximum readability.

Content

At the top of your resume should be your name and contact information, including home address, telephone numbers, and email addresses where you can be reached.

Many employers will then look for an Objective. This is a short statement (one or two sentences will suffice) that explains exactly what you are looking for. These few lines can mean all the difference when compared to a pile of generic resumes.

Next make a short list of qualifications, achievements, or qualities that the employer would find valuable. If you think of your resume to an ad, this would be like a list of features and benefits that the employer would get by hiring you. For example, if you know the company uses an industry-specific brand of software you should be sure to mention that you have used that software in the past. This immediately gives you a leg up on the competition.