In our ‘Hot Hints for a Better Resume’ article we touched on the fact that it is extremely important to present a faultless resume when applying for a job position. Any minor mistake or spelling error may really be the difference between you being offered an interview or your resume being simply discarded. It may feel like a trivial error will be over-looked by potential employer but considering your resume is the only document they have selling you to them every aspect of it will be scrutinised.

Including a photo on your resume has become increasingly popular in recent times with the fast-paced multimedia world we live in playing a big part in influencing the modern-day resume. However for certain job positions it may not strictly be appropriate to include a photo and for those where it is appropriate you certainly need to be keeping the image as professional and presentable as possible. Our resume builder allows you to include your photo on your new resume or replace it with professional looking graphics instead as we believe your resume needs this kind of flexibility depending on your job application and your personality.

If you’re currently seeking employment but have minimal past work history or professional contacts it can be very difficult to include relevant references on your resume. This can prevent you from even being considered by a potential employer and could result in it being very difficult to achieve an interview. However, we here at Resume Surgeon have compiled some tips to help you get around this problem.

If you do have gaps in your employment history you should be re-assured that this quite common for most people and that it is not a factor that will hold you back when applying for new positions. You may feel uncomfortable with these out of work gaps because they may imply that for a period of time you were perhaps lazy, unproductive or a failure in some respect. In almost all cases this is not true and even if it is (for whatever reason) there are ways that your resume can be worded and organised to either mask these gaps or turn them into positive factors. In most instances a person’s work gaps are so minimal (a matter of months) that you can simply close the spaces by stretching the dates between employers so that each period of employment appears to have followed on from the next. If the gaps in your employment span many months or even years they may be too long to simply close. In this instance you will need to explain your gaps in meaningful terms which give the employer confidence that you are a mature individual and will be a willing, loyal employee.

Obtaining references for your resume can be a daunting process as it can often involve talking to previous employers you may not have contacted in quite some time and will certainly involve a little head-scratching with regard to picking the right people that will present you in the best possible light if questioned by your prospective employers. The latter point is the most important one here as ultimately, when creating your resume, you’re creating a document which has to sell you to your potential new employer and every aspect of your resume has to reflect this underlying goal.

At Resume Surgeon we often remind our members that resumes do not get jobs. However, they can secure you an interview. In the first stage of an application for a new job your resume is the only document that represents you and what you can do for your new potential employer – it’s for this reason that it is one of the most important professional documents you will ever create. A good resume needs to attract the attention of an employer within the first 30 seconds.

Many people spend a lot of time pondering this question when writing their resumes as it’s often very difficult to decide on how much to mention or decipher which particular hobbies and interests will impress a prospective employer the most.

To help you figure this out the Resume-Surgeon.com team spoke to several employers on what they are interested in when reading the hobbies and interests section of an applicant’s resume. Once you understand what your potential employer is looking for you can really tailor your inclusions in this section of your resume to ensure that you push all the right buttons and secure that job interview.