Category: References

Four Great Books On Resume Writing


Resume writing is a difficult task. While you can research information online, or seek assistance from a professional resume services, it is always helpful to have resources on hand that can assist in writing a new or rewriting your existing resume and/or cover letter. The following four books can provide you with a wealth of information on resume writing:

On resume style

The first book you should consider is called The Elements of Resume Style. It was written by S. Bennett – This book, as its cover states, will provide you with great advice on writing resumes and cover letters. Here, you will find valuable advice of working through and setting your career goals, marking your qualifications, delivering your resume to your employers and composing your cover letter. The author is not afraid to discuss the commonly made mistakes, the importance of knowing what you want to do in your career, sentence structure, and even salary requirements. This book makes for a great resource for both beginners and experienced resume writers.

Related to competency

The second book is titled Competency-Based Resumes and was written by two writers, Kessler and Strasburg – Competency-Based Resumes is a great resource for professionals that are confident in their career objective and are searching for a more targeted way to develop their resume in order to get noticed in the specific industry of their interest.

The book discusses techniques used by employers at various industries that scan resumes in order to determine applicant’s experience based on their work habits and skills. The book offers you a new and effective way to create resumes that makes your skills and your education the number one priority, and provides you guidelines of highlighting specific areas in order to create a winning resume.

Best resume ideas

The third book contains 101 Best Resumes and was written by Block and Betrus – Members of the Professional Association of Resume Writers have come together to provide 101 best resumes for this book. The sample resumes included in this book will show you what winning resumes look like, and help you in creating an effective resume of your own that will get you the interview and the job. The book discusses personalizing your resume to positions that you want, highlighting your qualifications, developing your resume and writing cover letters. In addition, you will get some great advice on what to do once your resume is ready and how to win over your potential employer in an interview.

Knock ’em dead resumes

The last book of choice has Resumes That Knock ’em Dead and was written by Yate – This bestseller will teach you everything you need to know to get started in resume writing. It is a perfect read for beginners as well as those who have not written a resume in a long time. The author discusses how to gather all the information you will need to get started with writing a resume, how to chose the verbs you include in your statements, select the appropriate format and how to go about submitting your resume via email or the Internet. In addition, this book provides a great sag-way into cover letters, and how to create one that best compliments your resume.

Each of these books can be found in your local bookstore or your library. They provide more than a great starting point; you can hold on to these books and use them as ongoing resources as you move forward in your career.

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Use diligence in formatting your resume

In order to seek out and apply for the jobs in which you are interested, it might be necessary to post your profile and resume on a job search web site such as monster.com or hotjobs.com. These search engines allow you to upload your resume in a Microsoft Word or text file format, or create one using their forms.

Outside of job search web sites, e-mailing your resume as a form of application has become commonplace. However, each employer or headhunter has different rules on the file types they will accept via e-mail; because while most companies will accept an attachment in Microsoft Word–, you’ll have to be conscious of the font type and size, as well as margins you are using to compose your resume.

If a company requires a text file, you should follow these steps to convert your Microsoft Word document into a text resume:

  • Select File, Save As
  • Name the file (as a best practice, use your name as the file name, and use underscores as spaces);
  • Under Format, select Text Only
  • Select Save.

Carefully review resume before sending

Now that you have converted your file to a text file, make sure to open it and review how the spaces, tabs, and bullet points have transferred over. You may need to do some editing in order to format your resume so that it fits the file type. Note that a plain text file doesn’t allow for bold, italicized or underlined fonts, but you can make sure that all your text is left justified and the spacing is correct.

That having been said, if an employer asks you to include your resume in the body of an email, you should treat this as a text file when formatting. Copy and paste the entire resume in an email and keep the font styles basic; use Arial or Times New Roman fonts and keep the size in the 10 or 12 point range; you can also adjust all the spacing and bullet points as appropriate.

A good rule-of-thumb to follow is to keep the email simple and– avoid bolding or italicizing text, since you don’t really know the type of email software your recipient is using, if they accept HTML, or only text emails. If you are sending your resume as an attachment, format the email body as a cover letter. At the top of the email, include your name and address, as well as the address of your recipient. Typically, the address can be found either on the job listing or at the employer’s web site.

Adhere to employer’s website requirements

If you are sending your resume in the body of an email, follow the same guidelines in terms of the email content; however, don’t assume that including a resume in the body of an email is the only information you should include in your message to a potential employer. Even if the resume is copied into the email, you still need to let your employer know a little bit more about yourself via a cover letter.

Moreover, since you will include your address at the top of the email, feel free to start your resume with a career objective instead of including the heading with your name and address. Much like proofing is critical in perfecting your resume, testing how your resume is displayed in a body of an email or how it opens as an attachment via another computer is important.

Rally your friends or family for help, and send them sample emails with your resume included in the body of a message or as an attachment. This will provide a great opportunity for you to insure that your resume is reaching your potential employers in a format that is clean and professional.