by Renee Kale, Military Spouse Corporate Career Network Volunteer

A resume is a vital tool in the job search process. Creating a resume that clearly describes your skills that match the employer’s needs seems to be a challenge to some. Here are some guidelines that should be considered when creating your resume:

Target Your Resume! The resume should always be targeted for the specific job for which you are applying. A targeted resume will show how your skills match those for the position. Try to use key words but don’t just reiterate the job announcement. Leave off things that don’t apply. The only exception to this guideline is when you are posting to a job site or going to a job fair. Although these two exceptions are not targeting specific jobs, you should try to target specific occupations.

Page Length - Given the amount of resumes that employers are receiving today you should try, whenever possible, to keep your resume to one page. Normally two pages is acceptable but because employers are receiving hundreds of resumes for every job opening, keeping your information brief and concise will really help you in the long run.

Font Size - Your font needs to be large enough for the reader to see. The guideline I recommend would be no smaller than 11pt. and no larger than 12 pt unless it is your name. The largest I would recommend for the name is 14pt. You also want to use a basic font. Don’t get fancy and use Comic Sans or something that is “creative.” I recommend Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier New. Remember certain fonts will take up more room than others.

Another Note About Font - The use of italics, bold, underlining, shading and color is overused. I understand you want your resume and its contents to stand out but you really need to highlight your skills and accomplishments to get your resume to stand out. The use of italics makes it difficult to read. Underlining distracts the reader. Shading and color may throw off a scanner if the organization scans resumes to look for key words. My recommendation is to use bold for the section headers and your name. You can use underlining but use it sparingly. While these lines look nice, I really recommend leaving them off. They distract the reader.

Margins - I would recommend a one inch margin when possible. However, it is acceptable to use a smaller margin as long as the text shows when printed. You don’t want to have so much text that it is overwhelming to the reader. If you expand your margins and find that there is too much text on the page you may have to readjust.

Review Your Resume! Spelling, grammar, and punctuation have to be perfect. DO NOT depend on spell check; it will miss words that are mistyped but still spelled correctly. You should always have someone review your resume for you. Most bases have Family Member Employment Assistance or Employment Readiness Offices and there are people there who can review your resume for you. Ask a friend to help you if you are not near a base. Also help yourself by reading your resume out-loud saying each word. This is how I always find errors.

References/Salary - It is not necessary to put “References available upon request” on your resume. You should create a reference list in the event it is requested either with the resume or in the interview. Always make sure anyone on that list knows they are on the list and are prepared to give you a positive reference. You should never provide salary information on the resume. Again you can create a salary history page in the event that one is requested.

Templates - Do not use Microsoft Word’s resume template. It is much easier to just type your information and then format it later. I also recommend inserting a symbol rather than using the bullet formatting tool. Keep the symbols simple a • is perfect. DO NOT use $, %, or anything out of the ordinary.

Objective Statement - The objective statement is not always a requirement on the resume. When using an objective statement keep it simple. You can basically say “Seeking a position as a (place job title here) with (place organization name here). What you don’t want to do is tell the reader something like “Seeking position as a secretary where I can make a great salary and get employer education benefits.” This is a total turn-off for the employer and only lets the reader know what the organization is going to do for them; employers want to see what you can do for the organization.

Your Email Address - Keep your email address professional. You will lose the interview and ultimately the job if you use something like hotmama@aol.com or kegstandman@hotmail.com. These are providing too much information to the employer and show a lack of professionalism. Again, keep it simple.

Provide Results - You should always try to provide results, accomplishments, and outcomes in your resume. Employers want employees who can get results and not just sit around doing the minimum to collect a paycheck. Here are two examples:

1. Provide customer service.
2. Provide outstanding customer service gaining additional sales for the organization and receiving the employee of the month award for efforts.

Which is more impressive?

Quantify Information - Try to quantify your information whenever possible. Again, which is more impressive?

1. Maintained organization’s budget.
2. Maintained budget of over one million dollars, monthly reviewing all debts and credits to maintain 100% accuracy and fiscal accountability of organizational funds.

The second paints a clearer picture for the reader. I can now see the complexity of the duty and will know if the employee has what it takes to be part of my team.

Education - If you are currently pursuing higher education try to list the number of credits earned and/or an estimated completion date. Providing a GPA is fine as long as it is over 3.5 out of 4.0.

Volunteering - Have you been doing any volunteer work? If so you can use the volunteer experience on your resume. Treat it like you would any paid employment but make sure you list volunteer somewhere in the description so as not to mislead the reader.

Cover Letter - A cover letter should always accompany the resume. The letter should be written in business format and should attract the reader’s attention. You want to let the reader know why you are writing, highlight one or two skills that match the position you are applying for, and mention that you “look forward to discussing how your qualifications will benefit the organization” or something to that effect. The cover letter is NOT the place to put additional information that you could not fit onto the resume. The grammar, spelling, and punctuation must be perfect.

As a military spouse you might have gaps in your resume, don’t let this discourage you. Remember you can always use volunteer work or your education to fill in those gaps (if applicable). Also be prepared to discuss those gaps in an interview. This may be a touchy subject especially when you don’t want to mention topics such as family or the potential for another move down the road during the interview. Good preparation for the interview will help you to deflect any concerns the manager might have.

The resume is the document that gets you into the interview and ultimately the job. If you fail to provide a well written, easy to read, organized document, you will fail to get the job. Resume writing is tough but it is the “necessary evil’ required to land the job.

The Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN) is a designated 501(c)(3) public charity in good standing with the IRS. The MSCCN is dedicated to providing career opportunities and job portability for military spouses through a nationwide network of employers. MSCCN operates with MOUs from all branches of the Armed Forces as an employment partner. For more information, please contact the MSCCN at 1-877-696-7226 or askus@msccn.org.