Resume Best Practices & Standards

1. Resume Design: Selecting the right design template to showcase your accomplishments based on your industry is important. ResumeEdge offers 15 design templates for the private sector and 3 for the federal sector. ResumeEdge editors can advise or select the design template based on your industry and personal preference. Please note: All orders come with one design choice only. Before editing begins, resume design is agreed upon.

2. Page Length: Recruiters and Hiring Managers prefer resumes to be two pages or less. The editor and you will agree on the length of your resume prior to starting the editing process. Please note: All orders come with one page length choice.

3. Qualification (Opening) Summary versus Objective Statement: ResumeEdge.ca uses the best practice of creating Qualification Summaries for their customers versus creating objective statements. Recruiters and Hiring Managers want to see what candidates can bring to their organization in terms of performance rather than simply stating a position they want.

4. Quantify Accomplishments: A resume must have quantified accomplishments not a reiteration of a job description. Example: Increased productivity 58% within three months of hire by retraining staff on latest accounting software. Providing percentages, dollar figures, and timeframes strengthens achievements.

5. Strong Data Prioritization & Organization: The resume needs to be organized in standard sections. Within each section, the data is presented in reverse-chronological order (the last job or school listed first). The information is prioritized based on value to the Recruiter and Hiring Manager. Information pertinent to the targeted position should be showcased first. For example, if Education is the most important qualification; it’s presented before Work History, rather than last on the document.

6. Non-relevant & Repetitive Data: An effective resume focuses on enhancing your candidacy and avoids repetition and inclusion of non-relevant information. For example, hobbies & interests should only be included if relevant to the job. Personal information (birth dates, marital status etc.) is included in some oversea resumes.

7. Language: Use of business language is critical to the professionalism of a resume. Resumes should avoid the use of personal pronouns (“I’ “my” “we”) and slang at all times.

Articles

• Resume Best Practices
• Standards Resume Misconceptions: What a Resume Is Not
• Succeeding in a Challenging Job Market