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Resumes are the one thing that drive me nuts. You either get it, or you don’t. There is no ‘in between’, or ‘might be qualified,’ – It’s a pretty black and white process.

I go through quite a few resumes on a daily basis – whether it be for clients themselves or for our own employees. Truthfully, most of them suck.

When I see a resume for the first time, I guage it no different than a website. I scan the top edge, then down the left column. I get through the objective, and maybe into the first few lines of text before it goes in the trash. And that’s if it is typed and formatted well! If something jumps off the page at me, I keep reading.

We are going to go through some points I consider to be important in formatting your resume correctly. Please keep in mind, this is more of a technology oriented position. Marketing and Healthcare have their own standards and creativity factors, but tech guys generally like it pretty cut and dried. Fluffy is for the marketing department!

Top Section of the Resume or Header

There are a couple things I like to see in the first few lines. Things like a name, email address and phone number. An address is a good thing as well. For me, it doesn’t need to be on fun letterhead or have curly cues in the corners. Just show me you know what the hell you are talking about.

Resume Objectives

The first thing you should put right below your name and phone number is your objective. And here’s a tip: Make it specific. I hate seeing things like, “Looking for employment after gradution.” Sure, that may be true – but it gives me the impression that you will be here for a year or two, steal all our SEO secrets and half our clients, and go work for a competitor. That wouldn’t make me too happy.

Instead, write something specific to the job you are applying for. If you are looking to get into a project management position for Accenture, put something like, “To become the project manager for a world class consulting agency.”

The Experience Section of a Resume

The experience section is what you have done that will have some sort of impact on the company you are applying to. If you are straight out of college with a programming degree, write something like, “Application and Software Design for Manufacturing Companies.” Or how about, “Group Leader of a Case Analysis of Google.” Those are all relevant experiences that will cause an eyebrow to be raised by the reader.

The Skills Section of a Resume

This is my favorite part, because when you are in the world of technology, it is scary how much you know how to do. And don’t be bashful about putting your skills down. Bashful people are the ones still looking for jobs!

Do you know Flash? Modo? PHP? SQL? Dreamweaver? Access? Linux? Unix? List it all out!

Education Section

I don’t need to tell you what goes here. I will leave it to those damn student loan bills to give you a clue… $100,000 for one section of a resume!

Employment

The previous employment section is a bit touchy. If you are non traditional student, going to college, you might want to put it above the education section. If you have never had a job, don’t worry about it! And if you had too many jobs, only include the last 5 or so years worth, but don’t leave time gaps! Make sure you time is accounted for.

Honors

This is the nice, quaint, conceited section of your resume. Put anything you have won or been recognized for. Whether it be a pie eating contest when you were twelve or a marketing award from you college. Just make sure that it applies to the job you are looking for..

OK, leave the pie contest out unless you are applying to Google only for the free lunches!

Activities

In this section, just write what you do with yourself. Fill in any gaps, or put your personal interests down. If you work 55 hours a week, do projects on the side, and go to school full time – make sure that shows through here!

References

The one thing I will say about references is, “INCLUDE THEM!” Don’t make a perspective employer hunt you down to find out where that can get a hold of people. Frankly, an impressive application that says, “References available upon request,” ends up in the garbage.

Summary

A couple closing words on resumes. Make sure you update it every couple months. Our lives are so busy, we tend to forget about that last big project we just did, or the design software that we just learned. Make sure that you take note of all that stuff on a recurring basis.

Finally, your resume showcases you… What you have worked for… And what you know. Don’t just throw something together in a hurry because it is the only option. Did you work your ass off in school and in your internships so you can throw it out the window when it counts?

Also, for shits and giggles, you can download my updated resume. Let me know what you think! And PS. I haven’t needed this thing in 6.5 years and still going strong :0)