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If the thought of constructing a resume from scratch sounds intimidating to you, don’t worry; most people feel the exact same way. What makes resume writing so difficult is identifying what to include, what to never mention, what to highlight, and what to covertly hide. HR professionals and hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes, which means they only spend an average of twenty seconds on yours! If you don’t have the proper organization that is easy to skim through, it could cost you an interview.

Resume styles and formats can vary according to your profession. However, there are some basic tips and guidelines that all resumes should follow. Here are some helpful tips on how to write a winning resume:

1. To start, before you even type a single letter, you need to determine your objective. What kind of job do you want? What skills and experiences are needed for such a position? You will structure the rest of your resume based upon this basic encompassing goal.

2. You must always remember that the primary goal of your resume is to obtain an interview; it’s a marketing tool to sell yourself, and first impressions always count. Always strive to be clear and concise with your wording; just include the facts.

3. In the body of the resume, you will want to use bullet points with short sentences rather than paragraphs; save that for your cover letter.

4. You don’t need to go into specifics because hopefully you can delve into that during the interview.

5. When writing the content, try to use action words as much as possible. Those include words like “prepared, managed, developed, etc.” These are important keywords that will stand out to a person or a computer screening your resume.

6. Highlight your strengths and de-emphasize your weaknesses. Highlight your strengths that most meet the needs of the employer. Always read job postings and descriptions very carefully and modify your resume accordingly.

7. You should always have an overall positive tone by avoiding negative and irrelevant points.

8. Try and keep the resume between 1-2 pages, but preferably just on one page.

9. The font size should be no smaller than 10 point.

You can always have someone write your resume for you using a service such as ResumeWriters.com. You might not trust yourself to write a decent resume, or perhaps you just don’t have the time. This site offers the largest network of independently contracted resume writing professionals, from all careers and disciplines.

It’s a very simple process. All you have to do it submit your information and you will receive your resume/cover letter within 24-72 hours. You are then free to contact the writer if you feel that revisions are necessary. It gets the job done right, but if you are taking the time to submit your information, you might as well do it yourself.

Follow these simple tips, or use a resume writing service and you will be sure to gain an interview.

Now, being prepared for an interview is a whole other topic!

***Picture Thanks to orionoir***