QCB's Resume Dos and Don'ts 2019

Writing a Resume is hard work, especially if you are starting from scratch. We are here to help with our 10 Do’s and Don’t’s of Resume Writing, courtesy of our Founder and Career Coach Amber Crow

1.       Do start out with a Strong Header that clearly lays out your name, email, and phone number

Don’t Use excessive colors or a photo at the top of your resume

2.       Do Start out with a strong career summary that can act as an “elevator pitch” for your resume.

Don’t use an objective statement as these are as outdated as the Gender Binary

3.       Do carefully read each job description and tailor your resume accordingly using the keywords 

Don’t send the same resume to every company without any updates

4.       Do Focus on the last 10-15 years of your career experience and condense any older positions

Don’t include any details from high school such as clubs or sports or the name of your school

5.       Do Share if you were promoted or moved up within the same company and why

Don’t list the reasons you left a job or try to justify large gaps in your employment record, you can explain these answers in person

6.       Do start each bullet point with a powerful action verb such as “Maximized” or “Standardized”

Don’t using the gerund tense (-ing) or any personal pronouns such as “I” or “my”

7.       Do put your education towards the bottom if you are no longer in school and have enough work experience to stand on

Don’t include outdated phrasing such as “Reference Available Upon Request” or “Proficient in Microsoft Word”

8.       Do consider how your design will appear in both print and digitally. Don’t waste the Hiring Managers color ink

Don’t spend so much time worried about the design of your resume, focus on the content

9.       Do focus on the results and accomplishments of your actions and any improvements that you contributed

Don’t just list what you did day to day with no explanation

10.   Do spend time focusing on your resume and the work that you accomplished in case it comes up in a job interview

Don’t pay an un-certified resume writer to write your resume for you