How many times have you heard “First things first?” But time and time again people mess things up from the beginning… their name. You may ask “how can someone screw that up?”
Get your name right on your resume
For some reason people often times put their full name on their resume. Put the name you usually go by on your resume. No, not the nickname that you got as a pledge but the name you prefer people to call you. There is no rule or law out there saying your resume must match your social security card.
This comes into play when someone from a company calls you. If they ask for your proper name you may think it is a telemarketer.
Your resume should include your location
Many people are nervous about including their address on resumes but you at least want to put the city and state. Many companies only want to hire local candidates. If it is not evident that you are local they move on to the next candidate.
Be sure your phone number is working
I have had it happen on several occasions that I call a candidate only to hear that the number is no longer in service. Or I hear that their voicemail is not set up. To bad for them, I am calling the next resume.
Use a good email address
I shouldn’t have to mention it but I will… be sure your email address is professional. You also want to be sure you don’t miss any emails. I recommend starting a new email address for your job search. That way your spam filter is less likely to grab an email from a company and it won’t get buried.
Social Media and your resume
You may want to include your LinkedIn and possibly your Twitter handle. It is easy to create a custom LinkedIn url. Most companies will check social media before hiring you so you might as well include it up front. Hopefully you are using your social media to your advantage.
If you don’t get these things right, not much else matters.
Al
Beware of the person who can’t be bothered by details.
William Feather