Your resume should be put together so that a recruiter can just take a quick glance and know what you are all about. It should be formatted so as to appear clean and neat. Too many words crammed together can be hard to read. Be short, concise, and to the point.
The Cover Letter
Your resume should be introduced with a great cover letter. In fact, some recruiters may not even read your resume if your cover letter is unremarkable. The cover letter should include biographical information pertaining to the job, and explanations as to why you are interested in the position and why you believe you are a good fit to work with the company. Be sure to include appropriate information and double-check that names are spelled correctly and that addresses are right.
At the top of your resume, place your full name and your contact information. Include your mailing address, email address and phone number. If you include information that is not up-to-date, it may turn off the hiring manager and it may immediately eliminate you from the competition. Always be sure that everything on your resume is current. This is also the place where you want to list any recent education. List any degrees you have earned and also the school that granted them to you. If you have certifications, list these as well. You should also list any licenses, memberships, and affiliations you have. If your most recent educational accomplishments were not earned within the past tens years, it’s best to list them at the bottom of your resume, under your work experience.
In the first paragraph of your resume, you may want to think about including a ''goals'' section. In this section, you can identify your goals for employment and for your career so that any prospective employer will get the immediate impression that you have a clear vision for yourself. These goals may be five- or ten-year goals, but you should be specific about what you want to achieve with your employment. Be sure to have real goals that are achievable and professional. Your goals should be related to the position to which you are applying.
In your resume, be sure to include any big accomplishments you have made. Some accomplishments may be work-related, but some may not. You might have accomplished things within your local community that are worth noting. These often look good to a prospective employer because they demonstrate that you are well-rounded.
Be sure to cater your skill set to the job you are seeking. If you have not listed skills that relate to the job at hand, you may not even be considered. With that in mind, if you have even a rough knowledge on any system or process, you should include it on your resume, being sure to mark that you have a ''working knowledge.'' This small piece may be your selling point for the job.
One of the most important things to think about is that you are posting your resume on the Internet. Anything you want people to see online should include relevant keywords so people will pull up your resume. Think about important keywords that people might type in search engines for a position you are applying for. These keywords are important if you want your resume to pull up every time someone is looking for a candidate.
The Compliance in Your Resume
If you are applying for a compliance position you should, of course, include previous compliance employment experience. This should be professional experience that you can verify with a reference. Under each job, include the title of your position, the company you worked for, and the dates of employment or the length of time that you worked there. It is good to provide the last five to ten years of your work experience. The last 20 years of your experience may go on for too long, unless you were with the same job for 15 years.
