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Ten Items To Include In Your Professional Resume

Finding a job these days can be difficult. The economy is in a slump and unemployment rates are growing every week, if you are in the job market it is important that you have an excellent professional resume. A good resume will interest an employer, and from what he sees on your resume he will decide whether to invite you in for an interview. When you look back over your employment history you may be confused as to what items you should include on your resume. These 10 items are must haves for any professional resume.

1. Contact information - If an employer likes your resume he has to have a way to contact you for an interview. A professional resume should include your full name, address, phone number and email address.

2. Promotions and accomplishments in your career - If you were employee of the month for 3 months in a row, or if you single handedly created second language forms for your company to increase business then include this information.

3. Education - No you don’t need to list your elementary schools or your courses in middle school, but always tout the professional degrees and certifications you have earned. A potential employer needs to know that you are qualified for a position.

4. No hobbies - The only time you should include hobbies on your resume is if they are pertinent to the job for which you are applying. For example if you are applying to be a video game tester, then you definitely want to include the fact that you play video games for a few hours each day.

5. Streamlined and organized information - A potential employer wants to see the main points of your career history and qualifications in a resume that is organized and flows smoothly form one topic to another without a bunch of “fluff” or additional words. You are writing a professional resume, not an epic poem.

6. References - Professional references are people who know how you work, have worked with you or supervised you. A reference isn’t your mother’s neighbor whose lawn you used to cut 15 years ago. Also references should be complete with a current address and phone number, because a potential employer can’t really learn anything of import by looking at a list of names. 3 references is a good number.

7. Skills - Whether you are bi or trilingual, have exceptional speed reading skills, or simply are a very organized and forward thinking person; be sure to toot your own horn a bit in your resume. Again, keep it straightforward and not full of flowery words, just state what makes you a good choice as an employee.

8. Objectives and Goals - Let a potential employer know if you are looking to start low and move up the corporate ladder, or if you have innovative ideas to improve the business.

9. No Salutations - This isn’t a cover letter, this is a resume, and essentially it should be like reading a book about your employed life.

10. No jokes - Save your witty banter and sense of humor for an in person meeting, words on paper don’t carry sarcasm or humor very well. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

A professional resume is the first step in finding employment and is worth the time to do it right. Your resume is a potential employer’s first impression of you and you want to make it a good one.