4Key Features of the Most Effective Résumés

YOUR RÉSUMÉ IS not likely to get you hired; rather, its purpose is to get you a face-to-face audience with an interviewing or hiring authority. That is, your résumé is a sales tool that says to an interviewing or hiring authority: “You need to interview me because I have been a good employee [or student]. I’ve been successful before and I will be successful for you.” It’s that simple.

The rule of thumb is this: As long as your résumé gets you interviews, you can use any format or style you like. But certain contents and formats have the highest probability of getting you interviews, based on my thirty-eight years of experience. I begin the chapter with a discussion of some initial considerations—things ...

Get Unbeatable Resumes now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.