BCPL Resume Tip #51

Welcome back, job hunters! We've got another super simple but special resume tip for you to help spruce up yours...

Resume Tip #51 - Fill the Page

Your resume should be a whole page, regardless of how young you are or how short your work history may be. There are a lot of optional sections outside of work experience and education that you can use to fill the space such as objective, skills, volunteer history, and certifications. Also, you can list out your profession references at the bottom as opposed to saying "available upon request".

Using bullet points is a handy and effective way to fill the page of your resume. Instead of clumping job duties from your experience into a paragraph, use some bullet points with shorter descriptions to get the details listed.

Adding an objective, such as your intention to gain full time work instead of part time or to use your new degree, etc. can fill the space nicely but keep that section brief. Skills and certifications should be limited to professional ones, primarily toward the job you're seeking. Skills like dog obidience training don't come in handy unless you're applying to be a dog walker or vet's assistant. Skills like use of Microsoft office applications pretty much always come in handy today. Volunteer history is something employer's like to see, though again, keep it fairly limited to big projects. Maybe you're applying to be a cook at a restaurant and you once worked Saturdays in a food pantry or kitchen for six months.

While it's important to limit to empty space on your resume, always try not to go over one page though!

Check back in with us next month for another helpful hint and in the meantime, remember the library is a great place to work on your job search.