I often receive feedback from clients about the resumes I have prepared for them; one of consistent comments I receive is about the word “I.” While resumes should not be written in third person (who likes the “royal we”?), they should not use the word “I” either. Resumes are appropriately written in first person implied. This means that not only should you not use “I,” you should not use other personal pronouns such as me, my, we, our, etc., either.
I also received feedback about “missing” articles—words like “a,” “an.”, “the.” These words are not missing; they are intentionally left out! For easier reading and brevity (even in federal resumes), resumes are written in what is called telegraphic style. In essence these words are eliminated but the sentence is still understood.
Here are some other common questions about resume writing style I hear:
- “Why don’t you use “responsible for…?” The phrase “responsible for…” is never a good idea; first, this is passive language. And second, just because you are responsible for something doesn’t mean you did it; it just means you should have done it!
- “Why do you use numerals instead of spelling out numbers?” Many resumes are full of text—by using numerals (even for numbers under 10), it makes it easier for the reader to see the numbers. This goes for using symbols such as $, %, and M as well.
- “I thought resumes were supposed to be in present tense.” Only your current job should be in present tense; all past work experience and accomplishments for your current job should be in past tense,
- “Why do you not put “s” on the end of verbs?” Because adding the “s” turns the writing into 3rd person; we use first person for resume writing. Of course, you’ll use past tense for verbs in your former work.
- “Don’t I need to include every job I’ve held on my resume?” The short answer is “no;” you do not need every single job on your resume. Most employers are only interested in your most recent and relevant work—for most people this is the last 10 years or so. If you feel like you must include your earlier work, consider including a section on your resume called Earlier Work Experience and Key Achievements (or something similar), list some of your earlier jobs without dates and be sure to include accomplishments. If you don’t have relevant accomplishments for those earlier jobs, why do you think they are important?
- “I don’t have any accomplishments!” Everyone has accomplishments. The key is to track them throughout your career and frame them in a way that shows your value to potential employers. Think about what makes you different from other people who have the same job you do
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