The Mr. is hiring someone for his office and I am no stranger to job applications, so I thought this is a perfect time to get a few pointers of my chest.
1) Resumes are one page. Period. If you can't be succinct, you don't know yourself, your business or your language very well. Learn how to edit! Regardless of this article, I think that people need to be more critical of their professional past and cut, cut, cut away the fat. The digital age may make it convenient to send a longer resume, but that doesn't mean HR will take the time to read one.
2) Review. Be sure you have someone look over your resume for errors. If you misspell the word "college" in your education section, you deserve to not get the job.
3) Don't overlook aesthetic. Be aware of your margin alignments, fonts and white space. Resumes need to be easy on the eyes even if you aren't applying for an artistic job. A good looking resume conveys that you know how to use the program (Word) and that you have an eye for detail.
4) Be unique. I border on "weird" anyway, so I find myself reigning in my written work. Many people though don't branch out and leave white space here or left-align things there. If nothing else, make sure that your cover letter is specific to the job to which you are applying.
5) Which brings me to generic cover letters. Don't do 'em! Make sure that you name the position you're applying for and the reason you want it specifically.
6) Do your darnedest to send the letter to a person - not just "to whom it may concern". Cause you know who that concerns? Nobody! Even if you send your letter out with the wrong name on it (which I've done before), chances are it will get more attention if the recipient walks it over to HR and it all like, "Hey, I got this letter and I think it's for you. They wrote some good sh*t. You should probably consider hiring them." (Which has happened to me!). Don't misaddress it on purpose, but take your best shot. If no name is specifically listed with the job posting, find someone through LinkedIn who is a recruiter or in the department to which you are applying and send your application to them.
7) Let go of neuroses. For instance, I like using commas to a fault and will come up with a third adjective just to round out a list trio. Resist! Too many commas make your writing seem panicked (Think "would I take a breath here if I was speaking this?" If no, then no comma.) and too many adjectives make you seem like a
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