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8.1 Building Your Résumé

The Primary Purpose of a Résumé Is to Obtain an Interview

One of the most important things to
remember about a résumé is that its
primary purpose is not to help you
obtain a job; it is a tool to help you get
an interview. Together with your cover
letter, an effective résumé creates
interest when it is read by hiring man-
agers and encourages them to learn
more about you. These documents “get
your foot in the door” and allow you to
be face-to-face with people who might
hire you or refer you to someone else
who can. It is usually in the interview
that an employer determines whether
he or she wants to hire you.

An effective résumé is more than just
a formal list of information about you. Creatas Images/Creatas/Thinkstock
Think of it as a sales brochure that The purpose of a résumé is to help a job seeker land
an interview. It is the first thing a reviewer or poten-
advertises you to potential employ-
ers! In today’s competitive job market, tial employer will see.
human resources personnel or hiring
managers often receive dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of applications and résumés
for job openings. The first thing the reviewer must do is reduce the number of applicants to
a manageable number of people who can be interviewed. The reviewer decides who to inter-
view by quickly screening applications and résumés to answer four main questions:

1. Does this person fit our job requirements and have the necessary skills and experi-
ence to do the job?
2. Does this person appear to be a good fit with our company?
3. Is this person interesting to me, and does he or she stand out in a positive way so
that I want to know more about the person before I make a hiring decision?
4. Is this person’s résumé well presented and professional—with no spelling, grammar,
or typographic errors?

You submit your résumé because you want to move on to the next step in the job search pro-
cess: the job interview. To accomplish this goal, the reviewer must mentally answer yes to
all four of the previous questions when he or she reads your résumé. If the answer to any of
the questions is no, your résumé likely will be rejected. So your first goal in preparing your
résumé is to avoid listing information that results in your résumé being rejected. The guide-
lines that follow are designed to help you avoid this pitfall.

What Should I Include in My Résumé?

Your résumé should be one to two pages in length, depending on how many years of experi-
ence you have, the number of relevant positions you’ve held, and how many technical skills
you need for a specific job position. For example, an IT professional may need two pages to

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