Tips for Editing Your Résumé
Imagine that the economy has recovered and you're a manager on a hiring spree, skimming through a stack of résumés. One applicant boasts of her "excellant written and verbal communication skills." Another expresses a desire for "a rewarding position with a well-established firm that provide opprotunities to advance."
In either case, would you bother inviting the applicant in for an interview?
According to a survey recently conducted by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations, up to two-thirds of small businesses report finding grammar and spelling errors in half the résumés they receive. And to many potential employers, such mistakes really do matter.
A carefully edited résumé signals professionalism and attention to detail--qualities that most employers are looking for in a candidate, regardless of the position.
On the other hand, even one or two errors on a résumé can make a bad first impression. A misspelled word or an agreement error may not be an outrageous gaffe, but it's distracting all the same. And a carelessly edited résumé sends exactly the wrong message.
Résumé Editing Tips
To be sure that your résumé is making the best impression, consider these editing tips.
- Read your résumé aloud--slowly, thoughtfully, word by word. You may hear mistakes that you haven't been able to see.
- Use your spell checker, but also recognize its limitations: see Commonly Confused Words and Commonly Misspelled Words.
- Use our Editing Checklist as a guide.
- After waiting a day or two, proofread your résumé again. With fresh eyes you may spot an error or two that earlier you missed.
- Ask at least one friend or colleague to review your résumé critically.
Whether it's now or in the future, best wishes on your job search.
More About Professional Writing:
1) Proofread 2) Proofread and 3) Proofread. If possible get an outside set of eyes to look at your work.