We talked about the best interview tips .... Now, what's your best resume writing tip?

First of all, the whole resume should be organized and clear. This makes the reader comfortable reading it.

Second, for those who has a lot of experiences, only list those important ones or at least emphasis on those important ones. Otherwise the reader may probably ignore the ones you may think are important.

Third, describe the jobs or projects in addition to just listing them. I'll suggest to use a short paragraph to describe each job/project. Say something about what you contributed to the job/project usually helps.

Fourth, put your GPA on the resume, unless it's very low. Employers usually assume a low grade if there's no GPA on the resume. You don't really have to be 4.0 to list that. Actually, if your listed GPA is relatively lower but you have many great experiences, employers will likely contact you as well. So don't worry about this. However, if you don't have a GPA listed, then the situation may be bad if the employer assumes you are lower than C or D.

Fifth, memberships to the professional organizations usually don't help at all if you're just a member without doing any work there. As the result, things like IEEE member, ACM member, etc don't really matter. However, if you volunteers in these organizations or have awards from these organizations, I will recommend mentioning that.

Finally, if you like, list some significant people as reference won't hurt. However, only list those who have worked with you (professor, mentor, or previous manager of your internship, etc). Listing a famous people you know but never worked together would never help.

Hope this helps.
Nuo

1. Categorize your fields of experience by the professional level. Start with your best to worst. Make things which is important to the job requirements at the top of your skills list. Some experts even recommend to have different resume for each job you apply to.

2. No problem to bold the points which you think is interesting for the resume reader. This would set the attention of the reader to your top skills and will help him get a quick view your fields of experience.

3. Summarize your skills and be brief in your descriptions. Make sure that the resume reader won't spent much time to read your resume. Be direct as much as you can.

4. List your certificates, honors, sessions you speaks in and successful achievements and projects.

In a non-product group job (Support/Consulting) stating you are an expert at anything is a one-way trip back to searching for another job if you can't back it up. If anything, it may help to understate your ability.

1. Whenever possible, we like to not only hear about your duties, but what you accomplished. Use examples of quantifiable results to attract a recruiter/hiring manager's attention.

2. Be realistic. NO one can hang the moon in six months. If you say you owned a huge project with results, but were only at the company six months, it smells fishy. Self-awareness is very important at Microsoft. Be realistic.

On that note, if you've had short stints at your last few jobs, consider a functional rather than chronological resume. Eventually you will have to explain your short tenure, but that is something better done during your phone interview, after you've wow'd us with your experience.

3. From a recruiter's perspective, you make our jobs a lot easier if you don't put your contact information in the header area of your Word doc. Also please don't use tables. :)

4. Amazingly, I still get resumes with personal information on them - photos, height, weight, marital status. Leave ALL of that off!

5. Remember, your resume is only a foot in the door. Give enough information to generate interest, then wow them in the interview!

1. DON'T LIE on your resume. (half-truth is still a half-lie).

2. You resume is about you. It is not about your last team or what the team accomplished. I am not hiring your team. I want to hire you. Speak about your role on the team, your impact, your part in the overall team success.

3. Don't put languages (i.e. C, C++, C#, ASM, etc) on your resume you are not fluent in. They are fair game for an interview question. HINT: Rating yourself as a 10 of 10 in C# puts you on the just below the level of Jeffery Richter.

4. Always bring extra copies of your most current resume. Even if it more current than the one you gave to the recruiter. It shows that you are prepared.

5. Tailor your resume to fit the position.

6. DON'T LIE on your resume.

Keep your resume short and simple. Don’t use lengthy sentences. Interviewers Want straight forward statements that highlight your relevant qualifications and skills. A resume is not a place to highlight your writing skills.
http://www.examplesof.com/resume/

I spent years fine tuning my resume until I got it to a point where almost everytime I submitted it I received a response from a recruiter.

My 2 cents... have it read almost like a book -- but don't write it as long as a book. Keep it almost conversational. But write it so the reader wants to keep reading down the page. I use bullet points to get the genral point across of what my responsibilities were at companies.

Here's how I formatted my resume:

Qualifications - my management skills
Results - how a few of the projects I've worked on were successful
Clients - who I've done work for/with over the years (I'm a creative Director so this pertains to design-types)
Employment History
Recognition - awards won for my work
Education

I usually have recruiters say that they can easily read my resume, and that the Qualifications and Results hook them into the rest of my resume.

I went to a professional for some resume advice since I was without a job for 9+ months. The biggest thing I learned from that experience was that I thought my resume would ultimately land me a job ... and had everything worded so that I thought it would.

I learned my resume was only supposed to ideally get an interview! So I was putting too much information into my resume making it much too long and complicated to read.

The tip of the day ... keep your resume short and to the point. Focus on results rather than "experiences" and your heading in the right direction.

http://www.EssentialResumeSkills.com