Your resume is your calling card. Therefore, you should do your best to make sure it stands out from the rest and presents you as the most qualified candidate.

1. Start with a pencil and paper. Brainstorm all your accomplishments and awards at past jobs. Also consider anything worthwhile you may have done in your local community.

Write a list of all the software you know how to use and another list of any skills you’re good at.

Then, make a list of everyone you think would be happy to recommend you and find their contact info. Call them before you even add them to your resume to be sure it’s okay for you to use their names as references.

2. Use no more than two fonts in your resume. I recommend Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman. A good resume uses a variety of simple functions, different-sized fonts, capped letters, bold and italic fonts. But make sure you’re consistent. For instance, if you capitalize and bold the titles of the companies you’ve worked for, make sure you do it for all of them.

3. Highlight your accomplishments. It’s fine to discuss your duties, but you should bullet some accomplishments, too. What did you do for the company? What was the result of what you did? For example, “Created packaging initiatives and increased quarterly sales by 25%.”

Make sure you also state how you can contribute to the hiring organization. (more…)