Words to Avoid in Your Resume
June 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment
- Avoid negative words such as hate, dislike, unhappy. Bah hum bug – who wants to hear negativity. Accentuate the positive!
- Self love is good; but personal pronouns (I, we, my, me) in resumes are bad. While you do need to highlight your accomplishments, they will be overshadowed if your text reads that it is all about me…me…me…meeeeeeee!
- If you’ve ever worked for the government you are aware of their fondness for abbreviations and acronyms. However, IMHO, IYKWIM the general public is not hip to that jargon (in my humble opinion, if you know what I mean!). So unless it is specific to the job you are applying for use real words - e.g. IT abbreviations for an IT job is ok but IT abbreviations when applying for a non IT job is not… because they probably won’t know what you’re talking about.
- Your school English teacher loved to see the use of prepositions and adjectives (an, also, the, because, very, highly).
- Watch for run-on sentences. Do not confuse job hunting with creative writing! Use sparingly; remember write tight, factual text.
Emailed Cover Letter and Resume Tips
June 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Tips for Keeping Your Resume & Cover Letter Looking Great When Sending Via Email
According to recent World Internet Usage and Population Statistics there are approximately 233,188,086 internet users in North America. With 70% of the population using the internet it’s no wonder that more and more employers are utilizing electronic resume and cover letter submissions.
We like to use email because it’s faster and easier, right? Such convenience may come at a price if your resume and cover letter don’t travel well (electronically!) Follow these four tips to ensure your electronic personal representation bodes well when sending via email.
While Word .docs may be your word process or choice, make sure you save both your resume and cover letter as a txt file. Not everyone uses words and depending on a number of variables it may not arrive in the same format as it was originally sent. Also replace all formatted items that mess up (like bullets) with dashes (-), asterisks (*) or arrows (>) – those are more universal symbols.
Again, it may look like a masterpiece on your end. That does not mean the receiver will view that same Pièce de résistance! Use a simple divider to designate where the cover letter ends and the resume begins. This will alleviate confusing the recipient. (=== Begin Resume ===)
Keep the width of your cover letter to about 65-70 characters wide. As a point of reference – a standard page with 1.25 left and right margins, font size 12, typically holds 75 characters without spaces included and 90 with spaces.
Address the hiring person by name. Make every effort to find out the name of the person reviewing the document. It will show that you’ve done your homework and may give you an extra edge. Many people just say Dear Employer… too impersonal! Dear Mr. Boyd – is much better. By all means, avoid using To Whom It May Concern. That just screams Form Letter!
Putting together a winning cover letter and resume takes quite an investment of time, creativity and in some cases financial resources. If you’re investing time preparing these important documents – and you should put substantial effort into this step – follow the above tips to ensure it gets read by the reviewing official.
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