New rules to modernize your résumé for 2016
Whether you’re an experienced worker re-entering the job market or a recent college graduate, it may be time to freshen the look and content of your résumé. That’s because employers’ expectations and preferences have changed in recent years, and college career counselors may not be up on the latest résumé conventions.
Here are 16 ways to modernize your résumé to 2016 standards.
1. Shrink your header. Centering your name and contact information in a vertical stack wastes space and looks stodgy. Try keeping your contact info on a single line beneath your name, separated by even spacing.
2. Leave out your physical address. “It’s almost old-school to include a street address,” said Wendy Enelow, co-author with Louise Kursmark of the upcoming “Modernize Your Résumé” (Cardinal Publisher’s Group, March 2016). Include only your telephone number, email address and perhaps your city and state, if you’re limiting your job search geographically.
3. Don’t let your email age you. Fair or not, an AOL address may signal that its owner is stuck in the 1990s.
4. Include your LinkedIn profile URL. Also include social media handles and your website or blog URLs if the content is relevant to your industry and highlights your expertise. If you haven’t already done so, claim your custom LinkedIn URL.
5. Ditch the Objective Statement. “It’s outdated and speaks to your own wants, not the employer’s needs,” said certified professional résumé writer Lorie Lebert. Replace it with a profile section, personal branding statement or professional summarythat makes clear the value you’ll bring to that particular employer. You can use a sentence or two, bullet points, or both.
6. Use a descriptive headline. “Professional Summary” adds nothing and takes up space, whereas a headline sums up your value proposition and differentiators. Example: Bilingual EMT with urban search and rescue certification.
7. Use keywords. Many companies use applicant tracking systems to screen candidates by scanning résumés for positionspecific keywords. Use terms (qualifications, skills, position title and responsibilities) from the job posting.
8. Eliminate “Responsible for” in your employment history. Emphasize achievements and quantifiable results, not duties.
9. Detail 10 to 15 years of work history. If you have prior relevant experience, create a separate section with just your job titles, company names and years at each job. Leave off the dates.
10. Eliminate articles (a, an, the). They won’t be missed, and it frees up space.
11. Switch from Times New Roman to a tidy sans serif font. Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Tahoma and Calibri are standard yet modern.
12. Update style and punctuation. Double spacing after periods was an old typewriter convention, but word processing programs automatically put in extra space at the end of sentences to improve readability. Similarly, “Underlining is an old typewriter function that means bold,” Lebert said. Use it sparingly, if at all.
13. Lose “References Available on Request.” It robs space and states the obvious.
14. Save your résumé as a PDF in addition to a Word document. “PDFs preserve formatting and are preferred by most employers,” Lebert said. Include hyperlinks in the digital version but not on printouts, so employers can click through to your online profiles and email.
15. Use a findable file name. A document titled “Resume” may get lost in the shuffle. Include your name and the job title.
16. Consider the résumé saved on your own computer as a template. It’s no longer acceptable or effective to use the same résumé with customized cover letters for each job opening. “Customize your résumé for every job you apply for,” Enelow said.
— CTW Features
Because employers’ expectations and preferences have changed in recent years, it may be time to freshen the look and content of your résumé.