Writing a winning resume can be daunting. You may wonder if you have enough information to fill a page or if your experience will be impressive enough to catch the eye of a potential employer. The first step in compiling a comprehensive list of your past accomplishments is to ask yourself a few questions about your past professional experiences and career goals.

Start with an examination of your reasons for needing a resume. While this may seem elementary, compelling reasons for needing a resume go beyond “I want to get a new job.” Consider your career goals. What would you like to do? What job are you qualified for? Make sure your goals are specific in terms of industry, position, title, and future career accomplishments. Once you are clear about your goal, it will be easier for you to write a resume that highlights your skills and experience in your specific area of ​​interest.

Once you’ve developed your career objective and put it in writing, you need to research the resume formats that will best highlight your skills. The Internet is full of sites that offer sample resumes for the industry of your interest. The library is another great resource for finding background information that will help you better compile and present your professional accomplishments. Once you’ve found the format that best presents your information, use the layout to help you get started.

Your personal information should appear at the top of your resume. This information will include your name, address, home and mobile number and email address if you have one. If you include an email address, use one with your name on it, as it appears more professional. Please refrain from using email addresses with pet names like “[email protected].”. If you don’t already have a professional-looking email address, you can get one for free at Yahoo or Gmail.

When listing your work experience, make sure the list is in chronological order, starting with your most recent position. You can list up to five previous jobs, but try to keep the resume to a maximum of 2 pages. Be sure to include all jobs so you don’t create gaps in your employment history.

When listing your education, start with your college attendance and work your way up to your most recent accomplishments. If you’ve never attended a college or university, but did get a certification or training on the job, be sure to include those. Skills and certifications should be listed in bullet form with as much information about the certifying agency included as possible, allowing the potential employer the opportunity to perform reference checks.

Including references on your resume is helpful, but can be left out if you prefer. However, you must inform the prospective employer that references will be provided upon request. You can do this by simply writing “Professional References Provided Upon Request” at the bottom of your resume.

Ask a friend or family member to review your entire resume and provide critiques on the build. Having a second set of eyes to review your work can help spot grammatical or formatting errors that may have been missed. A well-written, error-free resume will help you do your best and land the job that exceeds your career goals.