Resume Writing Tips

Tips and Suggestions for Writing a Resume

Joyce Lain Kennedy is the author of Tribune Media Service's Careers column and a renowned career expert. Her book, Resumes for Dummies , contains everything you need to know to create a perfect resume - simply and easily. There is also a wealth of advice on how to market your resume and how to conduct a successful job search.

Here are just a few of Joyce's resume writing tips and suggestions:

The Big News! Handsome resumes are back. Thanks to new technology which retains the original document, formatted resumes with embellishments like boldface, italics, fancy fonts and bullets are back in style.

It's important to note that the use of online screening before your resume is rated is growing. Applicants are flooding mail boxes whether or not their resume bears any resemblance to the job's requirements, so, companies are increasingly using automated systems to screen resumes prior to sending them to recruiter and hiring managers.

It's helpful to take a few tests on company career portals where you don't want to work to gain experience taking tests and increasing your comfort level.

Choose your resume format wisely. Use a format that highlights your strengths and hides your shortcomings. The book has a wide selection of templates to choose from to develop your own resume.

Write it until it's right. Think, write, think some more, rewrite, proofread, get feedback and rewrite.

Market your resume by targeting a job market, making a list of job leads, creating mix and match resumes and cover letters and determining your online resume strategy.

Send your resume so it arrives on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Monday's are busy and Friday's are termination days.