Penelope Brown explains how to create a résumé that stands out from the crowd.

To secure the career you want, your résumé has got to work for you. Ideally, it is your advertisement-your personal billboard-with just enough space to communicate your image and convey your message in about 30 seconds. Its primary goal: to convince a prospective employer to give you an interview.

Creating a good résumé may take eons, but it is worth the investment in time. With an increasingly mobile workforce and with short-term projects releasing superior employees into the job pool at regular intervals, recruiters are deluged with a continuous stream of excellent applications. Your résumé must stand out, must speak for you in your absence. It must distinguish itself from the rest of the pile so you can get that coveted interview.

Do not assume that you can send the same well-written résumé to everyone you plan to pursue. To get the attention you want it to receive, it must be patently clear that this résumé is written specifically for this reader. If your résumé looks like a form letter you created to cover all the bases, chances are you won't even get up to bat.

Keep your sentences short and use strong, vigorous verbs in brief, dynamic phrases; nouns should be descriptive key words. Be positive, but never exaggerate to the point of dishonesty.

In summary, a well-written résumé can get you an invitation to an interview so be sure that it:

• reads like a professional document
• includes strong action verbs
• contains descriptive nouns related to job duties or competencies
• is error free
• promotes your skills and abilities as benefits to the reader
• enhances your chances of securing an interview.

Paper

Use only standard-sized, good quality paper. Rag or recycled paper is ideal, but ordinary quality office paper is acceptable.

Colour

White, ivory or grey are good choices. The recycled 'flecked' type of paper in a neutral buff or pale grey is currently in vogue and is acceptable.

Typeface

Any font or typeface is acceptable as long as it is clear and easy to read. (Detailed information on the construction of electronic résumés will appear in an upcoming article.)

Your aim is to find a font that produces clear, sharp copies. Do not double space because doing so wastes advertising space and, believe it or not, it is actually harder to read.

You may want to use two types of fonts, one for headers and another for text. But remember, never use more than two, or your pages will appear sloppy and unprofessional.

Length

New graduates, students or individuals with short work histories should be able to say everything on one page. For people with longer histories, an excellent résumé is rarely more than two pages long, although this rule is no longer carved in stone. An online résumé may be slightly lengthier because there are no page breaks.

Headings

To highlight headings, put them in boldface and either centre them or justify headings to the left. Your opening paragraph may be fully justified, but there is no need to fully justify the remaining text.

Professionalism

Spell-check, proof read, and proof read again. Tighten and polish your writing. Use high-impact verbs. Eliminate adjectives and "ing" words - they weaken your writing. Make sure all sentences are less than three lines long and all paragraphs are less than two inches high.

While indents are no longer common, you may indent each section to emphasize the content, but do remember to be consistent throughout.

Printing

If your printer is not of letter quality, take your résumé to a professional printer and have it printed properly.

The résumé package

Your résumé package consists of two components: the cover letter and the résumé. First, let's look at your résumé. We'll talk about the cover letter in another article.

Building your résumé

Format

There are essentially two types of résumés: chronological and functional (or a combination of the two). There are two media for sending either of these: paper and electronic. Whatever you choose, you will want to adapt the résumé for the intended recipient and for the medium. (Here we are dealing with paper résumés; electronic and scannable or Key Word résumés will be covered in an upcoming article.)

The chronological format starts with your most recent history and proceeds backwards. It is the most common form for new grads and young people. If your work history is rather long, you may find this type of résumé difficult, given your one or two page goal, but be selective.

Chronological résumé

In a chronological résumé, work and education are placed in separate sections. Recruiters tell us they want only chronological résumés from recent grads or students, but use your own judgement on whether a chronological résumé will do you justice.

A chronological résumé:

• works best for young people and recent graduates
• works well for job shifting within the same field
• is easy to manage.

Functional résumé

Functional résumés work best for individuals shifting direction or changing careers because they allow you to focus on applicable, transferable skills and talents. Based on your background, you must choose the format that works best for you. If your qualifications or educational history would appear weak in a chronological résumé, use a functional résumé. Or, consider a combination of both.

A functional résumé:

• emphasizes strengths and transferrable skills
• de-emphasizes lack of applicable work experience
• de-emphasizes educational background.

Combination résumé

Once considered a no-no, this format is becoming more and more common. Use it if you think it will do you justice.

Whatever form you select, you need a collection of "pieces" from which you will pick and choose to build the résumé to fit the specific needs of the reader. We'll detail those pieces and provide a sample résumé in the next article, Required elements of the dynamite résumé. 

Subject: Expat career tips