Resume Writing Examples

Here is an easy, step by step process on how to type a resume, including resume writing examples designed to make you stand out and win job interviews.

Avoid classic resume writing mistakes and myths.

To help you follow along with my resume tips below, I've created 2 PDF resume writing examples.

The first example is the polished, unedited PDF sample resume.

The second resume example is the exact same PDF sample resume, but I've included all of my help notes in the right hand margin to explain step by step the logic of building a powerful resume.

Ok...let's climb into this resume and discuss why companies really like it.

Before we do, I want you to pay attention as to why this resume is easy to read and liked by companies.

I'll give you a hint.

Hiring authorities don't have to do a lot of work and research to figure out what products or services your prior companies delivered. Make it easy for people to know this by just reading your resume.

I'll show you in my resume example.

Very Important: The only purpose of a resume is get an on-site interview with a hiring authority. That's it.

The secret to a good resume is providing just enough information in an easy-to-read-and-understand-format, so they are left with a positive impression about you and hungry for more.

Check your ego at the door when you're writing your resume. If you provide too much information, you run the risk of getting screened out.

Save the best of you for your interview.

General recommendations for my resume writing examples:

• Use Arial 10-12 font. Always use the color black throughout. Never use red or other colors.
• Comments: Arial is a simple, clean font that is easy to read. If your job history is short, go with 11 or 12 point type.

  The first time someone lays their eyes on your resume, they aren't going to read every word of it. They're going to scan it to see how you've formatted your information and to see if any key job requirement words or phrases jump out at them.

  You want the Look and Feel of your resume to invite the reader to want to know more about you. In 10 seconds or less, they are going to decide whether or not your resume is worth their valuable time to actually read.

• Create your resume in a simple Word or PDF format. Avoid templates and borders.
• Comments: These are universal formats that 99.99% of every company can easily store in their resume database. They are also easy to attach and forward to others in the company.

  Funky templates and borders sometimes fall apart when emailed around and can mess up your resume content. Also, if you have the latest and greatest version of Word, email your resume using the older, more common version. A lot of systems who haven't upgraded their version of Word may not be able to open your attachment.

  To avoid all of this, just provide your resume in a PDF format as it is compatible with all systems and versions.

• Always include your full address and contact information.
• Comments: For some reason, some folks are leaving off their address these days. Their contact information consists of their name, email address, and cell phone number.

  This is a bad idea for several reasons.

  When you do this you are shouting, I don't trust you.

  Second, companies and recruiters store your resume in sophisticated databases that allow them to search by location, area code, and other factors.

  They may never be able to find you again in their database.

  Third, companies and recruiters don't like it when you do this. Do you want hiring authorities to be annoyed the second they lay their eyes on your resume?

• Comments: One reason folks may leave their address off their resume is because they don't want to be eliminated as a serious candidate for a relocation issue.

  You may live in California, but want desperately to move back home to Ohio. Many times a company will see the California address and read no further because they don't want to pay for a major relocation.

  What the company doesn't realize is the candidate is renting and is more than willing to relocate at their own expense. So, the candidate tries to minimize this risk by leaving off his physical address.

• Tip: If you are willing to pay your own relocation expenses to move back to your home town, just put one of your family member's address on your resume.

  Your area code doesn't matter anymore as people often carry over their cell phone numbers no matter where they live.

  Companies will see the local address and won't automatically eliminate you because of potential relocation costs.

• Minimize using special effects like bold, italics, and underlining. If overdone, it makes your resume look amateurish.
• You don't need to limit your resume to one page. Honestly!
• Comments: The one page resume rule is a myth. I have no idea how this ever got started.

  It probably originated in colleges because most students only have enough information to barely fill up one page.

  It is perfectly ok to have a 2-3 page resume, but no longer than 3 pages.

  Obviously, if you're mid to late career, you can't possibly fit your experience and accomplishments on one page.

  If you're late in your career, one way to keep your resume from being 5 pages long is to just outline your experience for the past 20 years.

  Beyond 20 years, how relevant is that experience?

  Not only that, too many companies age discriminate. This is a perfectly good way to conceal your age without being dishonest or deceptive.

  The key to a good resume is formatting, and well written content.

• Read your resume out loud. This forces you to actually read every single word on your resume to see how it sounds. This will also help you spot errors and poorly worded phrasing.
• Last but not least... check, double check, and triple check for spelling errors! You might be able to get away with one typo, but 2 typos, and your resume will probably be rejected.

  Three errors...forget it.

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