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You are here: Home / blog / The Job Seeker’s Toolbox – Great Résumés

The Job Seeker’s Toolbox – Great Résumés

January 13, 2020 by Step Up Recruiting

The Job Seeker’s Toolbox – Part I

Go it alone, or get some help? We hope you chose the latter!

Step Up Recruiting helps job candidates and companies. In part 1 of this series, we want to discuss a proactive start to your job search by pulling great resumes out of your jobseekers toolbox. 

Great Résumés

There are many do’s and don’t do’s here when it comes to resumes! Let’s get started.

First, your résumé should be up to date. Just finished a course, just left an employer, have a new accomplishment or milestone? Fire up that word processor and update your résumé! 

A fact-based and concise résumé will probably hold sway over its appearance (more on that below). A no-brainer: Do not lie or inflate the details because it’s the quickest path to potentially serious trouble. Not so obvious: the order or sequence of resume information and its format. If you don’t have a lot of job experience or have noticeable gaps in your work history, it might be better to list your education first or consider creating a functional résumé instead. The following article from Indeed.com called Functional Resume Tips and Examples may be an excellent place to start. 

Use action verbs in the description of any task or duty. For example, instead of writing ‘Look after support staff,’ consider starting the sentence with the more action-oriented word ‘Manage support staff.’ 

Don’t tense up; get your tenses right! Related to the above, consider what you’ve done to what you do. Using the above example, if you’re no longer in a job, you’re going to say, ‘Managed support staff.’ You would be amazed at how many job applicants get this part wrong!

You may be uploading your résumé to job boards (e.g., Monster.com), recruiting websites, or you may even upload it to an employer’s site. Pay close attention to how they have asked for the file format. Some organizations and employers are good with Microsoft Word documents. Others will want portable document format files (PDFs). And periodically, someone will want you to upload a plain text file. All recent versions of Microsoft Word will allow you to save a document as a PDF. If, and you may need to do a little homework here, someone wants a plain text file, we highly recommend that you do not merely re-save a Word document in that way. Plain text file uploads may be rare, but to handle them properly, we suggest you entirely re-format your résumé, using things like more line breaks and, periodically, all caps for headings.

We spoke about formatting, and we should look at it in a little more detail. The primary purpose of tables is in how they organize your information, and not in how pretty they are. If you use a table to present all or critical parts of your résumé, try not to leave it ‘as is.’ If you do, it may look a bit clunky or busy. But then again, do not over-format a table with fancy grid lines, too much color, or too complicated a layout. 

Tip: Some Word templates work out of the box. In most versions of Word, click on File, then New, to discover a format you can work with (and, of course, change).

Accessibility is a hot topic these days, and affects our lives in everything from physical accessibility, like ramps instead of stairs, to document accessibility. Cursive or fancy fonts, while attractive, may be hard to read. The same goes for the overuse of uppercase text or fonts that are too small. Our suggestion is to use a sans serif 12-point font, like Arial, and to avoid overusing uppercase, italics, and color.

Questions? Need some expert advice? Please give one of our experts at a call at (248) 421-7360, or fill out our easy to use Webform.

Filed Under: blog, Tips for Candidates Tagged With: Jobseeker, make your resume stand out, resume, resume copy, resume tips, technical resume tips, tip

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Interview Prep was Instrumental in Landing Position



I wanted to thank you for all the help you offered me during this period of transition. I believe your interview prep was instrumental in me landing this position. Additionally, you gave some great general advice and were very supportive, overall. You are a credit to your profession, and I will certainly remember Step Up Recruiting if I am (or someone I know is) in need of a career change in the future.


Patrick - Automotive Engineer

Step Up Recruiting
2018-03-16T15:59:15-04:00

Patrick - Automotive Engineer

I wanted to thank you for all the help you offered me during this period of transition. I believe your interview prep was instrumental in me landing this position. Additionally, you gave some great general advice and were very supportive, overall. You are a credit to your profession, and I will certainly remember Step Up Recruiting if I am (or someone I know is) in need of a career change in the future.
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/interview-prep-was-instrumental-in-landing-position/

The Perfect Match

Step Up Recruiting was instrumental in recommending the ideal candidate for my Sales and Marketing position. She has been with us for many years and has been the perfect addition to our team.
They carefully matched my needs with the candidate's skills and personality.
I would highly recommend Step Up Recruiting when looking for employees to fill key positions in your company.

Owner, Senior Health Care company

Step Up Recruiting
2015-01-26T21:56:03-05:00

Owner, Senior Health Care company

Step Up Recruiting was instrumental in recommending the ideal candidate for my Sales and Marketing position. She has been with us for many years and has been the perfect addition to our team. They carefully matched my needs with the candidate's skills and personality. I would highly recommend Step Up Recruiting when looking for employees to fill key positions in your company.
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/perfect-match/

Knowledgeable and Professional

In my experience in working with Lisa in the last couple years to network for new positions, I have found her to be very knowledgeable and professional. She is excellent with follow-up and is truly sincere in her approach to find appropriate work to match my skill-set. I would highly recommend Lisa to any individual looking for new professional positions, or a firm that is looking to match up candidates and openings!

Design Lead

Step Up Recruiting
2015-01-26T21:59:26-05:00

Design Lead

In my experience in working with Lisa in the last couple years to network for new positions, I have found her to be very knowledgeable and professional. She is excellent with follow-up and is truly sincere in her approach to find appropriate work to match my skill-set. I would highly recommend Lisa to any individual looking for new professional positions, or a firm that is looking to match up candidates and openings!
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/knowledgeable-professional/

Great Service

Lisa has provided great service as an Account Manager. She has provided excellent candidates, and her recruiting team is a portrayal of her guidance and professionalism. Whatever positions we are looking for, she was able to accommodate and provide the service and candidates for review. Lisa will go above and beyond to service our recruiting and staffing needs.

Human Resource Manager- Automotive Supplier

Step Up Recruiting
2015-01-26T21:50:49-05:00

Human Resource Manager- Automotive Supplier

Lisa has provided great service as an Account Manager. She has provided excellent candidates, and her recruiting team is a portrayal of her guidance and professionalism. Whatever positions we are looking for, she was able to accommodate and provide the service and candidates for review. Lisa will go above and beyond to service our recruiting and staffing needs.
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/great-service/

Adding Value

I really appreciated working with Lisa on my recent job search. She is one of the recruiters that truly adds value both to the candidate and the employer. Her tireless effort, willingness to invest necessary time, and desire to achieve a win-win outcome makes her a standout in her industry. I'll look forward to working with Lisa again when I'm seeking candidates!

Engineering Vice President- Automotive  Supplier

Step Up Recruiting
2015-01-26T21:53:18-05:00

Engineering Vice President- Automotive  Supplier

I really appreciated working with Lisa on my recent job search. She is one of the recruiters that truly adds value both to the candidate and the employer. Her tireless effort, willingness to invest necessary time, and desire to achieve a win-win outcome makes her a standout in her industry. I'll look forward to working with Lisa again when I'm seeking candidates!
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/adding-value/

Ideal Matches

Lisa has come through for us where others have failed. Her close attention to our specialized staffing requirements has provided ideal matches for multiple creative / technical positions. I’m impressed! It is VERY refreshing to have first recommendations be a perfect fit in our industry. Looking forward to working with her often in the future.

Design Manager, Automotive Supplier

Step Up Recruiting
2015-01-26T21:49:17-05:00

Design Manager, Automotive Supplier

Lisa has come through for us where others have failed. Her close attention to our specialized staffing requirements has provided ideal matches for multiple creative / technical positions. I’m impressed! It is VERY refreshing to have first recommendations be a perfect fit in our industry. Looking forward to working with her often in the future.
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/ideal-matches/

An Excellent Advocate

What a blessing you are. You are also a delightful presence and such an excellent mentor and advocate!

Susan, Designer

Step Up Recruiting
2015-01-26T16:47:15-05:00

Susan, Designer

What a blessing you are. You are also a delightful presence and such an excellent mentor and advocate!
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/excellent-advocate/

Knowledgeable Guide

I've had a great experience working with Lisa. Finding and getting a job is a difficult process, but having a knowledgable individual, like Lisa, guide you through that process is incredibly relieving. Not only did she help me with things like updating my resume, Linkedin, and website, she also helped me narrow down the type of career I want.

Hannah - Graphic Project Manager

Step Up Recruiting
2017-12-05T19:03:44-05:00

Hannah - Graphic Project Manager

I've had a great experience working with Lisa. Finding and getting a job is a difficult process, but having a knowledgable individual, like Lisa, guide you through that process is incredibly relieving. Not only did she help me with things like updating my resume, Linkedin, and website, she also helped me narrow down the type of career I want.
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/knowledgable-guide/

Resume Assistance

I want to extend my great appreciation and thank you for your assistance with my resume. Because of your assistance, I have had several offers and I will be starting with a new job. None of that could have happened without the great advice you gave to me and the time you spent helping me with my resume. What you recommended made an incredible difference. Thank you!


Mark-Engineer

Step Up Recruiting
2015-05-05T11:51:51-04:00

Mark-Engineer

I want to extend my great appreciation and thank you for your assistance with my resume. Because of your assistance, I have had several offers and I will be starting with a new job. None of that could have happened without the great advice you gave to me and the time you spent helping me with my resume. What you recommended made an incredible difference. Thank you!
https://stepuprecruiting.com/testimonials/resume-assistance/
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