What Is The Perfect Resume?

While resumes differ in any number of ways, there are some fundamental tenets that should be in place in order to classify your resume as "perfect."

The perfect resume is accomplishment-based. A resume is most effective if it is based on how you performed in your jobs. Resumes fall short when they provide nothing more than expanded job descriptions. But it is not enough to merely slap achievements / accomplishments / successes behind a nice column of bullets and then leave it at that. Here are some other points about accomplishments to consider

Are the accomplishments in context? Accomplishments need to be presented within a story.

Secondly, do your accomplishments carry a big-picture impact? Let the employer reading your resume know that you have an eye on how your performance affects the entire organization.

The perfect resume conveys credibility. The perfect resume gives credit where credit is due.

On the other hand, exaggeration is a mistake. Certainly candidates on the higher professional levels have closed deals worth multi-millions. But an administrative assistant who generated the contracts for those deals can't take credit for those multi-millions. Exaggerations such as these are easy to identify; and easy to verify (or prove wrong).

The perfect resume should sound like you. The resume has to include language that you can reasonably expect to use in a business conversation. The best use of key words shows that you are able to communicate effectively in your industry.

These factors are all important when building the perfect resume. Step back, look at your whole presentation, and make sure your resume sounds like the person who is uniquely you.