Your resume is the key to getting your foot in the door for an interview and, hopefully, that perfect job. You could be the best candidate for the position, but if your resume isn’t any good, you’ll never even get the chance of an interview to prove it! Given that your resume is probably in a pile with hundreds of others and will be scanned quickly by the hiring manager, you need to make it really stand out.

First of all, it needs to be grammatically correct and well written - it doesn’t hurt if you put it on good quality paper either. But more important than the paper itself, is what is written on it. Your resume should say all it can about you in relation to the job you seek in as little space as possible. Even if you have had tons of job experience, try to keep the resume down to 2 pages - believe me as a former hiring manager I can assure you that no one wants to read a 10 page resume! Besides who really cares about that job you had bagging groceries 10 years ago? Play up your most relevant jobs and just bullet item ones that are years old or are not related to the current position you are seeking.

The resume should start with your basic information, name, address, contact numbers and so on. Nothing fancy, just the basics so they can call you to come in for the interview.

Then you want to have a career objective. This is the reason you are seeking that particular job, so it is in your best interest to tailor the object to the position being offered. Put a strong goal here, one that you really actually have, so that the person reading your resume will know the direction you are headed in and can asses whether you will be a good fit.

After that you should list your relevant skills and any knowledge in the area that you have. Take care to highlight your accomplishments as they relate to this particular job - if you had an important paper published or won an award, go ahead and list it. This is a bulletin item summary, your jobs will be listed under this.

Next, list all your jobs in chronological order starting with the most recent. State the dates you worked in the job, the company and your major responsibilities. Don’t go overboard with large paragraphs listing every minute detail of your day - you can explain all this in detail in the actual interview, the resume is simply so you can show them that you have the skills necessary for the job.

Next, list your educational background. This doesn’t have to be a big deal - just the college(s) year of graduation and the degree. If you have applicable courses then feel free to list those too.

At the end, you can list references and any hobbies or interests if you want. Listing your hobbies shows you are a well rounded person and can show a bit about your character. If you are a leader in a certain organization that is not work related this can actually help you as it shows you have leadership skills so go ahead and list it.

Always be honest on your resume, but at the same time try to highlight your skills that are relevant to the particular job you are applying for. This way, you increase your chances of getting an interview to show the employer that you are the perfect candidate for the job!