Before you begin writing, take some time to determine your career objective. Having a clear target in mind will help you decide the most important attributes you will need to highlight on your resume and help you mentally determine the best format for doing so. Deciding on whether or not to include your objective is a matter of personal preference. While it can enhance your focus, it can also be limiting.

Design or select a format for your resume that is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read. Try to be creative enough to differentiate yourself from other candidates yet not so unique that your design will distract from the content. Make sure to utilize bullets and incorporate plenty of white space to enhance the readability. Being consistent in the usage of fonts, capitalization and punctuation throughout your resume gives a crisp and polished appearance.

Include your contact information (name, physical address, email address and phone) at the top of your resume. List any credentials after your name only if they are well aligned with the requirements of positions you may be seeking. Your email address should not stir up negative connotations. Record a pleasant and professional sounding outgoing phone message on your voicemail system.

Include a brief summary statement to describe who you are, what you do and for whom you’ve done it. This is an area where you will benefit from using buzz words and self-promoting descriptors (i.e. motivated, energetic, creative, dependable, leader, knowledgeable, proactive, honest, etc.). Avoid the temptation to delve into too many details in your summary as you will be able to provide such details under each position listed on your resume. This section is an ideal place to “hook” the reader and make them want to read more so be sure to make it shine!

List each of the positions you’ve held in reverse chronological order. Each position should include the name of the company, your title and dates of service. It is extremely helpful to the reader if you include a one-line description for each position to detail your responsibilities within a certain context. For instance, the reader of your resume may not be familiar with your current/previous employer or what they do. You may list your title as a “Sales Executive” but the reader may not know what products you have been selling to whom. This is easily rectified by including a line for each position such as, “Responsible for selling EMR Software to healthcare providers in the Southeast Region.”. Underneath the one-line description is where you would highlight your achievements and any awards/recognition received in the position as well as further describe some of your key responsibilities. Try to use numbers where possible as numbers tend to pop (i.e. decreased operating expenses by 37%, achieved 118% of sales goal). Resist the inclination to list every duty or task you have undertaken. You want to provide relevant information that will convey your effectiveness while saving more complex issues for the interview. Anything beyond 4 to 6 key points or bulleted items is probably excessive.

Include your education, professional training, licenses, certifications, professional affiliations and special skills.

Do not include personal information such as marital status, height or weight on your resume. There is much controversy over whether or not to include a “hobby” or “special interest” section on your resume as there are associated pros and cons to doing so. You should definitely not include any pastimes with affiliations that are religious, political or socially radical in nature. Should you decide to include others, it is advisable to be selective.

Don’t worry if your resume spans more than one page. Keeping things relevant and concise will help limit the number of pages. Having a well-designed resume that is easy to read is far more important than spilling over onto another page.

Proofread your resume at least five times and ask someone else to help. Don’t rely entirely on your automated spell checker as it will not catch grammatical errors that are spelled correctly. Check for consistency and formatting as well as spelling.

Tweak your resume (and cover letter) as necessary to make it position specific.