Your resume should be clear, concise, and free of first person pronouns. Its purpose is to generate interest in your background and secure an interview.

There are many formats you can use, but the key is to have at least as much black type on the page as you do empty white space. Do not use a format that has 3 or 4 inch margins and stretches for 6 pages - when it could easily fit on 2 pages.

Resumes can and should include the following basic sections:

Your Name and Full Contact Information - Give your full name, your current, correct mailing address, the city, the state and zip code, plus your telephone number(s) and e-mail address. Make it easy to be contacted.

Experience - You should use reverse chronological format (most recent job first). For each position, give the full company name of your employer, starting and ending dates (use month/year format) of employment, and your position title. If you were promoted and/or held more than one position, use sub-dates beside each position title to show the length of time you spent in that job using that particular skill set. Use separate paragraphs to organize your information.

Each company entry should include your primary responsibilities and the duties in the job held. Also list secondary duties, or those on which you were backup.

If you should have any outstanding accomplishments, such as achieving a promotion, or resolving an outstanding collection account that was worth a large amount of revenue to the company, that should be included in your resume.

Skills - List any computer hardware or software programs that you have the ability to operate, as well as your typing words per minute and any other skills you may possess.

Education - If you hold a college degree(s), do not list high school information. If you have no college degree(s), list higher education courses or time spent in school pursuing your degree(s), give the school name and location, and the time spent in attendance and the course work or degree pursued.

References - Always put one sentence - "Available upon request."

Make a separate reference page and list a minimum of three business references that your potential employer may contact. Make sure that you have provided them with correct names, mailing addresses and telephone numbers. It is also helpful if you list their position titles.

Salary History - It is a good idea to have this available, but it should never be included with your resume unless specifically requested by your potential employer. It should be on a separate page and detail your salary for each specific position and company for which you worked. The salaries listed should be your gross salaries. Do not list your net salaries (the amount you make after taxes), this may cause you to be offered less than you are worth.

Resume No-No’s !

• DON’T use first person pronouns - the use of "I" throughout a resume can indicate more than one negative. It is best to avoid all pronouns totally.

• DON’T type the resume in all capital letters.

• DON’T submit a resume with typographical errors, such as spelling and grammatical errors. In most cases, a potential employer will not call you back with such errors present on your resume. Have someone proofread the final copy of your resume. It is much easier for someone else to find mistakes that you may miss.

Resume Do’s

• DO keep it short, sweet and to the point. If one job description takes up a whole page, your potential employer will get bored, and more than likely, never finish reading your resume. Just state the facts. Remember, you will have plenty of time to elaborate during the interview!

• DO use a font of 10 to 12 points. Any smaller is too hard to read, and larger is inappropriate.

• DO use a simple style that outlines all of the basics you need. Cutesy pictures and sayings are to be avoided. You want to come across as a professional.

*** Special Note ***

Always keep copies of your current, as well as your past resumes on a computer disk and also as a hard copy. Keep a copy of each resume you create, because you will find that as time goes by, you will forget specifics on projects, time frames, goals, etc. The old resume can refresh your memory. Also, it is easier to add to an old resume and edit the old information than to recreate it from scratch.

Keep copies of old reference names and numbers as well. Try to stay in touch with each group of people you work with if at all possible. Try to network with them - it won’t hurt and it could be a bonus for you!

Following is an example of a simple, to-the-point resume. Feel free to use it as a guideline. Download the PDF version Here.

EXCELLENT PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATES
Family Practice
Licensed Vocational Nurse
Responsibilities include triaging patients, performing venipuncture and EKG’s, assisting the physicians with minor in-office surgical procedures, as well as obtaining pre-authorizations and pre-certifications of outpatient testing.