09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
Posted by Ric on November 2nd, 2008
The Heading of your resume is very important, especially if you want to ensure that your resume is correctly scanned into a resume database and indexed using your name.
The first words at the top of the resume will be your name. Do not put the word resume at the top of the page.
Do not use graphically rich layouts - they only confuse the algorithms.
Postal Address Guidelines
Follow the postal service guidelines for addressing. The resume scanning algorithms use these guidelines.
The addressing guidelines following are based on online guides available from Canada Post, the US Postal Service and other postal services who are members of the International Post Corporation,a cooperative association of 23 national Postal operators from North America, Europe and the Pacific . Together, their members handle 65 per cent of the world’s postal traffic, which amounts to an immense volume of 290 billion letters a year.
The Resume Heading contains the basic contact information about you, including:
- Your name
- Apartment or Suite number (if there is one) - Street address
- City or town, Province Postal Code
- Telephone number
- E-mail address
- Languages
- Diplomas, Degrees & Certifications
1.0 Your name:
Use the name that you are commonly called by, not your given names.
If your given name is Robert Itguru and you have been called Bob for 10 years, then the name at the top of your resume will be Bob Itguru. Use bold face and slightly larger type for your name.
Bob Itguru
2.0 Street Address:
Unit numbers come before the street address, then a space, then a dash “-”, then a space, then street address. All on the same line such as:
468-283 Danforth Ave.
3.0 City, Province Postal Code:
All three (3) are to appear on the same line. City, 2 letter provincial code then 2 spaces and then the Postal Code:
Toronto, ON M4K 1N2
N.B. There is no “,” between Province and Postal Code.
4.0 Telephone number:
Give your home phone number. It should always have a voice mail box. You do not want to miss a response to your resume.
416-481-8282
5.0 E-mail address:
Use only one e-mail address. Use a personal e-mail address. Do not a business e-mail:
joe_itguru@someisp.com
6.0 Languages:
Include any and all of the languages that you speak and/or write. Be specific about dialect. If you speak Mandarin do not write Chinese. Write Mandarin. Rate your skill level.
Do not forget English - if you speak English. If it is not on your resume it will not be scanned.
English (mother tongue - excellent);
French (working spoken & written)
7.0 Diplomas, Degrees & Certifications:
Just list, on one line, your degrees and certifications such as:
B.Sc; SCO ACE
Following the above guidelines will to ensure that your resume gets scanned and indexed correctly, and it also makes it easier to read.
Table of Contents
- 01. Easy Steps To Writing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews
- 02. Resume Writing: Present all the benefits you can provide to an employer
- 03. Resume Writing: 5 major employer hiring concerns
- 04. Resume Writing: The single purpose of an IT resume
- 05. Resume Writing: Use a universal document type
- 06. Resume Writing: Use a meaningful resume file name
- 07. Resume Writing: Length
- 08. Resume Writing: Content
- 09. Resume Writing: Content - Heading
- 10. Resume Writing: Content - Body
- 11. Resume Writing: Content - Layout
- 12. Resume Writing: Take action!
