Checklist for Ideal Résumé

Form:

  1. Never underline anything.

    2.  
  2. Avoid all-caps. Use the alternatives - bold, italic, small-caps, larger type.

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  3. Use tabs judiciously and correctly. Use your ruler to set tabs and don't use more than one tab in a row.

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  4. Confirm the spelling and capitalization of the names of all software and hardware you mention. Most often misspelled words are: online, FrameMaker, RoboHELP, CorelDRAW, and QuarkXPress. See our web site for a complete list of oft-misspelled words. Look at the boxes or the splash screens of the applications themselves, or in the manuals for the hardware, software, and operating systems you mention.

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  5. Keep it relevant to the type of work you would like to do again. Do not include descriptions of skills you no longer wish to do for pay. Focus ruthlessly on the skills and achievements that qualify you for the position you want.

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  6. Don't reduce your résumé's type size below 10pt or your margin widths below 3/4" each.

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  7. Keep it tidy and inviting to the eye. If you know someone with a background in document layout or design, ask them for feedback and employ the advice that makes sense to you.

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  8. Do not make it a functional résumé, where work is categorized by function e.g. Writing, Managing).

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  9. Do make it a chronological résumé, categorized by each job and including location, dates (ie, start and end month and year), and which tools you used to accomplish which results.

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  10. If you're straight out of school or a Technical Writing Certificate Program, and have never worked as a Technical Communicator before, your Education section should reside near the top of your résumé, between (for example) your Objective and Work Experience sections.

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  11. If you have any experience as a Technical Communicator, list your experience before your Education and after the Objective section. In other words, put the Education section after Experience.

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  12. Check carefully for misspellings, grammatical errors, and lack of parallelism (especially in bulleted lists).

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  13. Be sure the paragraphs are left-justified.

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  14. Do not put text in tables.

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  15. Ensure consistent spacing between paragraphs, indentation, column widths, line lengths, bullet shapes, use of bold/italics/all caps/etc., and alignment (especially of right tabs).

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Content:
  1. Your contact information should include your name, complete mailing address, home area code and phone number, work phone number only if it is safe to recieve calls pertaining to your job search, and your email address.

    2.  
  2. If you have a web site you want to show off, list its URL. Introduce each sample with information about 1) its intended audience, 2) the circumstances of its creation (eg, fast turnaround, SME indecision/unavailability, rewrite, patch-up job, something-from-nothing, no time for edit/review, etc) to act as disclaimers, and 3) what you'd do differently if you'd had more resources (time, tools, reviewers, etc). Also, if the information you're about to put on the web is not in the public domain - perhaps the product hasn't been released or the company would feel competitively compromised if you published information about it - change the product, company, and other relevant names with a simple search-and-replace. If you want to make sure the company approves of your actions, show them what you intend to 'publish' and ask their permission.

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  3. Include these categories in this order unless you have a very compelling reason not to: Objective, Summary, Tools, Experience, Education.

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  4. If your résumé is over two pages long, add a running footer to all but the first page which includes your full name and the current page number. Only allow it to go over the two-page mark if all the experience you list is directly related to the job you are applying for.

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  5. Present detailed information about the titles you authored (e.g., WinWidget 2000, the kind of audience you addressed (e.g., application developers), the tools you used (e.g., FrameMaker), the skills you used (e.g., reading C++ code), the results you achieved (e.g., 'delivered camera-ready copy three weeks ahead of deadline').

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  6. Don't simply outline responsibilities - correlate them with achievements.

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  7. List as many tools as you can, and categorize them. See our web-based Skills Inventory for suggestions about the kinds of categories to use, and refer to our sample resumes (in Acrobat or Word 6 format).

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  8. Do include applicable coursework or continuing education after your formal degree in the Education section of your résumé. Some examples of coursework worth noting: computer programming, systems administration, Information Mapping, tools (such as RoboHELP, FrameMaker, or Illustrator).

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  9. Omit graduation dates.

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  10. Include an Affiliations section at the end of your résumé if you're a member (and especially if you're an officer or board member) of a relevant professional organization, such as the Society for Technical Communication (STC), Bay Area Publications Managers Forum (BAPMF), International Interactive Computer Society (IICS), Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Bay Area Editors Forum (BAEF), American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).

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  When sending your résumé to Synergistech Communications, follow these guidelines: