7 Resume Editing Tips

​It’s amazing what a well-written and nicely presented resume can do for your job search. Before you send yours out, follow this checklist to ensure you are sending out an excellent quality representation of yourself.

1. Grammar and Spelling - Use the grammar and spell check function to capture obvious errors within your resume. Then print it out and read the document word for word to capture other resume mistakes. Remember, spell checker doesn’t know that you meant "manager" when you actually typed "manger."

2. Punctuation and Capitalization - Check for proper use of commas, semi-colons and capitalization. Use a manual such as the Gregg Reference Manual if you do not know capitalization or punctuation rules.

3. Run-on Sentences - Check to make sure you do not have run-on sentences that may collide with one another and are hard to read, losing the initial intent of the sentences.

4. Consistency - You must be consistent with your number usage (dates, money, numbers), plurals, and abbreviations. For example, don’t list one date as 8/2004 and then list another date as 3/15/2004. Also, be aware of listing software consistently (abbreviation use). MS Word and Microsoft Outlook are both correct, but not consistent.

5. Education section - When you have a degree, list only the year that you obtained your degree. When you list your dates, (i.e., 9/1998 to 1/2002) many resume-scanning systems will not recognize that you obtained a degree, only that you attended college for a period of time.

6. Ampersands - Ampersands (&) do not belong on a resume. There are a few exceptions. One exception is a well-known company name (AT&T). Another exception is well-known industry terms (P&L).

7. Hyperlinks - All e-mail and web addresses that you list need to be deactivated in your resume. To do this in MS Word, highlight the link, go to the "Insert" drop down menu, scroll down to and click "Hyperlink", and on the lower left-had side of this screen there should be a little button that says "Remove link", when you find it, give it a little click and voila! Alternatively, you can highlight the link, right click on it, and scroll down to "remove link" to deactivate the link.

To learn more about how to edit your resume, schedule a call today to speak with one of our career experts.

(P.S. Tired of spinning your wheels with your career? If you're ready to turn your resume into a hard-hitting marketing tool then try our FREE Resume Critique service today!)
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