What are the key things I need in my resume? What things should I leave out of my resume?

As you attack the resume, layer by layer, here are general tips and advice to guide your work. Editing a resume can be tough. People tend to be quite attached to the things they have done or accomplished professionally, and enthusiastic about their outside interests. 

But the bottom line is this: you need to have everything working for you on your resume; every section of your resume needs to be thoughtfully constructed, formatted and every word carefully placed. Be brutally objective and use the following checklist. 

• Tailor your resume: Think about your career goals and dream job and does your resume speak to that. It can be difficult to tailor a resume until a specific company or role has been identified, but you will want to as you conduct your search and apply for positions. Use the highlights/summary section for easy customizing.
   
• Summary or highlight of qualification section: 2-3 bullet points that highlight your expertise and experience. Additionally, highlighting your uniqueness and other abilities related to technical skills, leadership, and group work/collaboration.
   
• Objective statement: Can be removed from your MBA/Master-level resume.
   
• Bolding and underling: Be mindful of what you bold and underline, it should be used to highlight key words, but too much diminishes the intent.
   
• Italics should be used minimally: Use for publications, titles, and research materials only.
   
• Punctuation: Specifically at the end of your bullet points, be sure that every bullet has a period, or every bullet does not have a period. Recommendation: no punctuation, bullets are not sentences.
   
• Bullet alignment: To keep your document straight-forward avoid too many tabs and indents. Align bullets on the left side of the page and take full advantage of the page space and provide a “clean” overall appearance.
   
• Bullet points should be no longer than two lines: Content of three lines should be shortened or broken into two separate bullet points (or they will go unread by employers).
   
• White space: The white space/page space is valuable real estate take advantage of it by lining content up on the left, using full lines and if you go onto a second line using all that line.
   
• Margin recommendations: top - .50 bottom - .50 side(s) - .75
   
• Having trouble get your resume to fit on one page? See a career coach! There is “flex” to this rule.
   
• Font size: Pay attention to the font size and how often you change font size.
  • Seaford font-style is recommended
  • No smaller than 10; no larger than 12 (the exception, is your name), best for section headers
  • Your name will be the largest, 16 recommended
     
• Use past-tense verb (“ed”): Begin each bullet point even in your current work, role, experiences.
   
• Quantify your skills and responsibilities: How often, how many, what value, revenue, percentage.
   
• Include dates: Degrees, employment, awards to reinforce that each was earned and awarded.
   
• Date alignment: All dates should line up on the right side of the page pulling the employers eye across the page.
   
• Error free: Spell check! Also, be sure that you are using the right word (i.e., choose/chose or your/you are). Microsoft word has been known to not spell-check things that are all-caps. Check everything (repeatedly).
   
• Accurate and truthful: Your resume should be 100% accurate and truthful regarding your experience, duties, and dates.