When writing your own resume, use Word and KISS

© Copyright Roy Miller, All Rights Reserved.

Recruiters like Microsoft® Word. 'Nuff said. Use it!

Not a computer expert? You might not be, but I'll bet you have a computer. Most households have one. And most households have somebody under 20 who has used Word roughly since birth (I've used it since 1987 and I was born way before then). You've got a consultant!

Haven't used Word before? It is a vital job skill. Learning it will bolster your resume, and help you create it at the same time. Two birds with one stone. That's efficient job training.

And here are the basics you need to know to create a good resume:

• Start the program, probably from an icon at the lower left of the screen, or maybe from the "Start" menu.
• Word will open with a brand new, blank document. Odds are good that the default "font" (or typeface for the text you type) is set to "Times New Roman". Fantastic! That's what most recruiters expect to see, and it's what you get for free.
• Now you've got a fancy typewriter. Start typing.
• Every few minutes (not every few hours), go to the File menu and choose "Save". The first time you do that, you'll have to name the file. I suggest something like "your.name.resume.doc". Recruiters like that. It's easy to identify the document when they search through the hundreds they have to look at.

If you've seen some nice samples, make yours look like that.

That's it. I'm not kidding.

And if you're a Word expert, hold your visual creativity in check. Don't use fancy fonts, graphic bullets (beyond the somewhat graphical ones available as standard options), tables, etc. Yes, I use table almost everyday in Word, but you should avoid them for online resume distribution. Recruiters sometimes use software to grab resume content and put it in databases. Tables make that purgatory for them. And they'll likely pitch your resume.

In a nutshell, K.eep I.t S.imple, S.tupid.

If you use Word, make your resume look like a composite of some nice sample resumes, and avoid anything fancy, you'll dramatically improve your success in the job market.