10.
What if you worked for only ONE employer for 20 or 30 years?
Then list separately each different position you held there, so your job progression within the company is more obvious.
11.
What if you have a fragmented, scrambled-up work history, with lots of short-term jobs?
To minimize the job-hopper image, combine several similar jobs into one "chunk," for example:
1993-1995 Secretary/receptionist - Jones Bakery; Micro Corp.; Carter Jewelers.
OR 1993-95 Waiter/Busboy - McDougal's Restaurant; Burger-King; Traders Coffee Shop.
ALSO you can just DROP some of the less-important or briefest jobs. But DON'T drop a job, even when it lasted a short time, if that was where you acquired important skills or experience.
12.
Students can make their resume look neater by listing seasonal jobs very simply.
Use something such as "Spring 1996" or "Summer 1996" rather than 6/96 to 9/96. (The word "Spring" can be in very tiny letters, say 8-point in size.)
13.
What if your job title doesn't reflect your actual level of responsibility?
When you list it on the resume, either REPLACE it with a more appropriate job title (say "Office Manager" instead of "Administrative Assistant" if that's more realistic) OR use "their" job title AND your fairer one together "Administrative Assistant (Office Manager)"
14.
What if you don't quite have your degree or credentials yet?
You can say "Eligible for U.S. credentials," or "Graduate studies in Instructional Design, in progress," or "Masters Degree anticipated May, 2001."
15.
What if you have several different job objectives you're working on at the same time?
Or you haven't narrowed it down yet to just one job target? Write a different resume for EACH different job target. A targeted resume is much, much stronger than a generic resume.
16.
If you're over 40 or 50 or 60 and want to avoid age discrimination, remember that you DON'T have to present your ENTIRE work history!
You can simply label that part of your resume "Recent Work History" or "Relevant Work History" and then describe only the last 10 or 15 years of your experience.
(If something really important belongs in the distant past, here's what to do: at the end of your 10-15 year work history, you can add a paragraph headed "Prior relevant experience" and simply refer to that ancient job without mentioning dates.)
17.
Want to impress an employer?
Fill your resume with "PAR" statements. PAR stands for Problem-Action-Results, in other words, first you state the problem that existed in your workplace, then you describe what YOU did about it, and finally you point out the beneficial results.
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