There Are No Rules To Resumes

At this time of year students flock to my office wanting a résumé review.  Invariably when I start advising them, they stop me and say that is not the rule they learned for resumes.  My reply – there are no rules!  Resumes are subjective and dependent on the reader.  Now there may be some norms associated with a particular sector, specific company or a specific country, but overall there are no rules. Examples of why there are no rules include:

• The Federal Government Resume Builder may be at five pages vs. a higher education resume at two pages.
• In the U.S.A. you don’t put any personal information (i.e. marital status, children); however, in France it is still common.
• McKinsey & Company tells you what they would like to see in a résumé vs. a non-profit organization that may want to hear a compelling story that ties to their mission but have no suggested structure.
• The reader has a personal preference for bullets over paragraphs.
• Investment Banking may care about grades but a non-profit organization may not care about grades.

Here are a few  tips to get you started on a no rules resume:

1. To identify industry standards check with a professional association in your field.  Often they have very specific advice for career related topics.  Also, there are a variety of sites like wetfeet.com that cover many industries in detail.  Finally, ask for advice on professional networking sites like linkedin.com.

2.  To identify company standards check out their career section of the website.  Also, find a contact in the company that can review your résumé for you.  They will be the best help.

3.  To identify country standards check with your contacts in that country.  If you do have contactsGoingGlobal.com has wonderful guides for purchase at a reasonable rate, which tell you everything about finding a job in that country.

Since resumes are subjective, get at least three reviews.  One from someone in the industry, a second from someone who knows you well and can tell if something is missing and a third from someone who has a solid understanding of resume development.

O.K. there are a few rules… no spelling errors, no grammar errors, and make it easy for the hiring manager to find the information they need to bring you in for the interview.  Good luck with your résumé!