DH Templates

What is the best job resume format?

I am looking for a job and I have to use a resume with the online job searches (hotjobs.com, Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, etc). I'm using a good template from Microsoft, but was wondering what the best job resume would look like for someone with secretarial/office administration skills. Are cover letters necessary? What is a good cover letter suppose to look like? If you were looking at an online resume of somene with strong general office and Microsoft Excel and Access skills, what exactly would you want to see in the resume to consider hiring this person? I am new at writing resumes and want to make a good impression.

Public Comments

1. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Silly! Really...employers don't want to read a paragraph. They only want the key points. Also, DO NOT make you resume' more than 2 pages. A 1 page resume' with a simple, well stated cover letter is enough. If you have the experience they want, it will be easy to see!
2. I would want to see clear experience that highlights their strongest skills. Basic format of a resume should follow the guidelines in my article "Resume Writing Tips". Regarding cover letters, it's always best to include one to address your particular experience versus the job that you are applying for specifically. This shows that you have actually read what they are asking for and feel you are qualified for reasons a, b and c. Cover letters don't have to be very long, so long as they are individual. Additionally, an email will suffice as a cover letter if you are attaching your resume.
3. Besides setting all margins to 1", the most important criteria for setting up a professional resume besides relevant text, is "scanability." Here are some helpful tips: 1. Place just below your identification header [your hame, address, phone, email address] any Conditional Warning Statement such as "Confidential Resume,"Do Not Contact Current Employer," etc. 2. Always fill-in an Objectives category [just below the Conditional Warning Statement] and make sure that he Objective will contribute to the profitability of your future employer; 3. Select a mono-type font such as Helvetica, Arial, Courier or Times Roman; do not select any cursive handwriting styles which cannot scanned; 4. Keep font sizes within a range of 10 to 12 pts.; 5. Avoid styling text with a justified alignment, keep it flushed left; 6. Instead of using tabs to set up blocked text entries, generate a table and use the column and row settings accordingly; 7. Do not place an i.d. picture anywhere on the resume, this is a major taboo due to discrimination issues; 8. Do not place any graphic text [saved as .gifs] onto the resume since it may be overlooked during the scanning phase; 9. List at the very end of the resume your interests which should include travel experiences, language skills, social interactions such as golf, team sports, tennis, etc. In conclusion, the above helpful hints were designed to allow ease of scanning of your resume into PDF which can then be text captured for seach purposes by your potential employer. If the original resume was created in Word, WordPerfect or Mac Appleworks, it can be Saved As a PDF file which then can be saved as an email attachment. Otherwise, you can simply use a scanner and scan a hard copy of the resume and then save as a PDF file. Failure to conform the resume to appropriate fonts and styles as outlined above will result in rejection of the resume simply due to the inability of the scanning device to properly index relevant resume entries. Good luck!