• Long paragraphs are nothing but clutter on a resume. If writing a summary or objective, keep it to two sentences at the most.


• Paragraphs make it difficult to see the main ideas or key points on a resume. Lots of white space is good.

• Put the month and the year. Do not omit months unless you were at a position for longer than 5 years, and if it is not your current job.


• Companies want to know exact dates, ie May 1998 to June 1999.


• Just putting the years on a resume looks deceiving to the trained resume reader, and we are going to ask you the exact dates of employment anyway so you may as well put it on there.


• For example, 1998 - 1999: what does this mean? It could be December 1998 to January 1999 (2 months), yet it could be almost 2 years. Be honest with your potential employers.

Put your education at the end of your resume, unless you are fresh out of school and you are applying for an entry-level position, or if the position is in academics (in which case the emphasis is on your education).

There will undoubtedly be gaps in many peoples' resumes. These gaps must be explained at some point or other. In some instances, however, it may be appropriate to explain it in a cover letter. The bottom line is, that it must be in writing.

• If gaps are less than 2 months, there is no need to explain on the resume.


• Longer gaps must have an explanation. Whether you had heart surgery or were unemployed might make a difference.


• If you were unemployed, that must be explained as well.


• As long as you are honest with the reader of the resume, you have nothing to worry about.


• Don't cover up the gaps by omitting the months of employment, you'll have to explain it eventually, and then you look like a liar.


• If you are worried no one will look at your resume because you have gaps, you will definitely get passed-over if they are not explained.


• You do not need to fill in the gaps with places of employment if they are not relevant to your career objectives. However, you will need to explain why you were not employed in your area. Again, it may be best to explain the gaps in a cover letter.

• The idea of the one-page resume is history.


• You should only have a one-page resume if you are right out of school, or you have a short work history. In fact, if you have limited work history, it might be best to limit your resume to one page.


• What has replaced the one-page resume is the skill's list. The more skills/qualifications you possess, the longer it should be, as long as it is not more than one page.  You do not want 3 pages listing your accomplishments either.  That might be overkill.


• You might not get to your work history until the second page.


• They used to say that employers look at resumes as if they were passing a billboard on the interstate. This is no longer true, especially since the market for talent is extremely competitive. Therefore, a list of highlights, skills, accomplishments and/or qualifications will give an employer an indication of your skills before he/she goes through the entire resume.


• This is like a table of contents for the resume; it encourages the reader to continue.


• If your resume exceeds three pages, it is imperative that you have a qualification highlights section. Again, because employers must go through so many resumes, it is very easy to skip over unreadable ones.


• Your first page might contain the following


• Contact information
• Brief objective/career goals
• Two-line summary
• List of qualifications/skills


• Also, you should have a separate section for your other skills. This may include any technical or computer, management, customer service, analytical and other business skills relevant to the opportunity you want.