Keeping It Simple

With the job market like it is today, there is a lot of competition for most any position. If you are applying for a job, and reformatting your resume, here are a few simple tips to streamline things. I have heard of job positions that have brought in over a thousand resume applications for the one position. So, think about the hiring agent(s) who has to read and organize those resumes. In order to quickly catch their attention, you need to make sure your resume is clear, concise and easy to read. Too much information fills in the page and makes it look like a daunting task to read through.

Remember, the resume is a quick overview of you and your skills. Do not spend a lot of time going into detailed explanations of previous jobs or experience; keep it simple and easy to read in a glance. Listing things as bullet points helps to let the resume breath and allows for easier reading.

Focus on experience and accomplishments that are directly related to the position you are applying for. The amount of information will depend on the amount of experience you are including on your resume. Obviously, if you have less past experience, then you may need to add some padding to your resume to fill in some. Those with a long career history may need to focus and even restrict some of the information contained.

List the points with the most impact first, in an effort to grab the attention of the reader. People in your industry will already most likely be familiar with the tasks associated with your job title, so instead of explaining what you did in your position (things already implied by the job title), focus on some of the "how I did the job" features. State your accomplishments, and focus on your advanced skills in the area. Focus on the accomplishments, and list them in the past tense. Instead of simply listing your responsibilities from that position, turn them around and list them as a past accomplishment.

A lot of people ignore the idea of using numbers to list accomplishments. Instead of saying you drove many deliveries of high cost items, maybe say you drove 30,000 miles a year delivering $2 million dollars worth of goods. Of course, you would need to kind of have a rough estimate of those figures to do so, but that is something you may want to start keeping a record of for such use.

These are just a few of the tips that can help you keep your resume clean and easy to read. If you have additional tried and true tips, feel free to share them below.

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Logistics Jobsite blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.