If you’re planning to change career or are looking for a new job, your resume is your calling card. A resume will be your first chance at a job opportunity, so follow these five tips to write a great resume!

The trends for writing a good resume change all the time.

Should you write a resume with all your work history?

Do you bullet point this or that? Just what sort of information should you put in a resume?

Plenty of websites will tell you what the current trends for writing a resume are.

But you want your resume to look good and leave a fine impression with potential employers, so here are five tips to help you write a better resume than everyone else.

Keep it short

When a job opening comes up, potential employers are flooded with applications.

Many resumes don’t even get read and are tossed without a thought. resumes that are too long to read are amongst the first to be passed up, so keep your resume short and concise.

Structure it properly and make sure your resume is easy and fast to read. Choose to put things that are memorable on your resume, such as accomplishments or experience that makes you stand out.

Be wise with your words and use text that’s catchy but stay with relevant terms appropriate for the position you’re applying for.

Work Backwards

The first thing that should be on the list of your work experience and job history is the most recent position you held.

Potential employers don’t care what you did twenty years ago – they want fresh blood and new energy in their company. Pertinent and recent is what they’ll watch for to determine if you’re suitable for the job.

Tell the Truth

We all want to present ourselves in the best light and impress potential employers. Lying or glossing over black spots on your resume isn’t the way to go about doing so.

If you try to cover up areas in your work history, most likely they’ll be discovered later on down the line, costing you a potential job.

Look at the positive sides of less-than-desirable work history. If you were unemployed for a period, what did you do in that time? What did you learn? What did you occupy your time with?

Put a spin on things and present your history in its best light.

Just The Facts

A resume isn’t the place to wax poetic or to gush on about an achievement.

A resume is basically a list of facts about why you’re qualified for an open position in a business or company.

You want to be creative about the power words you choose to describe yourself, not about the type of fiction you can come up with to boost your appeal.

A Cover Letter?

Yes! Include a cover letter with your resume. A cover letter tells your employer your motivation for the job and presents the rationale behind your application.

A cover letter is the first thing your potential employer will see, and it introduces you more formally to the business you’d like to work for.

Consider it your first “meeting” and have your cover letter include a strong statement of your accomplishments towards the end.

Your resume will make the difference between getting through to a real interaction opportunity, so take the time to make the most of it.

Using your existing social networks to help you get a job you really want is a great job finding tactic to help you move your career right along.  Anyone can adopt this idea to enlist all the support you need. 

You have dozens, maybe hundreds of people you know, from the most recent to years ago. Think workplace, college, school. Think neighbors; friends and family. All are just the fit you are looking for

Using this network brings you warm, friendly already broken-in leads who most often will be shouting loud and rooting for you too.

Make the most of this by giving them a call and renewing old relationships; meet for coffee or lunch; catch a movie together. Just make an excuse to get together anyhow, anywhere.

Talk about stuff you have in common.

This easy job finding tactic means that you don’t have to waste time doing things you hate to do - like cold call or plead for help at some artificial employment agency.

It’s in your control to be with people you like and people who are like you. Check out other networking job finding tactics on here as well!