Words matter. Use the wrong ones, you just lost that job.

I have done it myself a number of times. I looked at an early version of the resume I put together during the big job search in 2010. It wasn’t great.  Lesson learned.

Grab your resume and let’s look together.

Okay.

Remove the objective.   You are telling your potential employer what job you are applying for in your cover letter. Nobody reads the objective, nobody cares about it, and loading it with keywords won’t help. Your resume should tell us who you are- not what you want.

“er/or” words are good words.

Supervisor

Manager

Performer

Designer

Photographer

Don’t mix titles with the environments you worked in.

You are Responsible. Under your “experience” list, begin each sentence with

Responsible for a team of 16 graphic designers….

Responsible for a regional sales team in the southwest US…

Responsible for editing raw video…

Spellcheck.  Obvious? I think not. I just finished looking at 4 resumes from clients. Every one of them has a typo.

One teeny typo can erase you from consideration. It shows you didn’t take the time to make sure this document was perfect.

Your resume has to be absolutely grammatically perfect. Show it to people. Ask them to find the typos/misplaced apostrophes/goofs.

There is no single awesome resume format, no absolute rules. Companies that claim they can help you make the “best” resume are often hucksters who will separate you from your money.  Put yours together, show it to people who hire people in the space you want to work, and take their feedback. You’ll have yourself a very nice bullet point bio of the fabulous person that is you.

You have to have three versions of it too…

Beginning April 2-one hour a week for five weeks. The Reinvention of You. Join my online class on Skillshare and I’ll help you discover the career you were meant to have. The answer is right under your nose. Click here to enroll.