Let's break it down

When you put together your targeted resume, there is a basic outline you should follow.

Here it is:

1.  Heading/Contact Data
2.  Objective Statement
3.  Skills/Experience
4.  Work History
5.  Education/Training
6.  Honors/Awards/Achievements
7.  Interests

Each resume you do (and note: I believe you need to do a separate resume for each job you want) -- needs to be tailor-made based on the job posting information.

The first section -- Heading/Contact -- will remain the same in each instance. But, there are some things you need to do correctly.

1.  Do NOT use oversized type for your name and then center it in the middle of the page as many resume "experts" say to do. There are a couple reasons for this. First, according to a study by the American Library Association -- we prefer to read starting from left to right. Things in the middle bother us. Second, the oversize type may be scanned and thought to be an "image" and as a result, your resume is automatically rejected.

2.  Be sure and ind include all your contact information. Mailing address, phone number, email address.

3.  Do not use "italic" type face on your resume. Again, the Library Association study showed that italized type irritates us. In fact, a phrase with more than eight words of italized type makes us downright cranky. So, don't do it.

4.  With your email address, please use one that is professional. By that I mean -- do not do one with some cutesy name.

"DrunkAllWeek", "ButterfliesAreFree", "BillandSue" -- none of those are good. Sorry. Go back to gmail and do something more conservative.

My email for friends is: GetMeDana@gmail.com but my business email is:  dana.lloyd.kehr@gmail.com  Get the point?!

OK. Tomorrow we'll break down how you can best handle the two headings that must be targeted toward a specific job opening.

Good Hunting!

Dana