Nothing is more boring than receiving a two or three page resume from a prospective employee that looks more like an essay. Instead, employers want you to highlight what you think your best qualities are, and lay them out from the very beginning. Choose a few relevant qualities. Highlight them, make them bold, put them in bigger font, just do something to make them stand out from the rest of your resume. Once you’ve done that, place them at the very top of the first page. Your interviewer will be much more interested in you if you don’t waste his or her time from the very beginning.

Choppy, short sentences do not get the point across to your potential employer. Not only do they fail to get the point across, but they also let the potential employer know that you are not able to articulate yourself. The information in your resume is not only a chance to sell your qualifications to the hiring manager, but it is a chance to show a little bit of your personality. Boring sentences make managers think about boring people. Boring people don’t get the highly competitive jobs. Expand those sentences and give the managers something enjoyable read.

It is not necessary to go into detail about every accomplishment. Try to be clear and concise. The purpose of the resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.

Though potential employers like to see who you have worked for and what positions you have held, the resume should not read like a history textbook. Since this is your primary marketing tool that will hopefully land you an interview, it is important to keep the content of the resume primarily focused on what you can bring to a company. Your past jobs might help you do this, so let them know that experience is a huge part of why you will be successful and include mention of experience that may be relevant to your new position.