10 tips to improve your rÉSUMÉ (and get better results)

UnitedHealth Group, the Minnetonka-based managed health care company, offers this advice to job seekers on its website, careers.unitedhealthgroup.com.

Determine your objective. Clearly understand what you want in your career and take the time to form a clear and obtainable objective. Also understand what skills and experience are needed to do well in a particular position. You can structure the content of your résumé around that objective.

Be clear and concise. You want us to be interested enough to contact you for an interview. Simply put yourself in the shoes of the résumé reader — what would you be looking for in a candidate?

Use bulleted sentences. Résumés are read quickly, so key phrases should stand out. Bulleting information will help us view your accomplishments at a glance — you can go into detail during the interview.

Use active language. Words like prepared, managed, developed, monitored and presented make your résumé stand out and make us recognize you are an energetic and enthusiastic candidate who makes things happen.

Highlight your strengths. Put the strong and most relevant points first. This is your hook for the reader — the rest of your résumé reels them in.

Match our need. Review job descriptions on our site and match prevalent words to the bullet points in your résumé. Chances are that you possess many of the attributes already, so add them to your résumé.

Be positive. Be relevant. Negative comments don't belong on your résumé. Focus on the duties in your current job that support your objective. Leave out personal information like your race, weight and height.

Create a concise format. A résumé should be limited to one page unless you have more than seven years of work experience. Make certain you're using the space to your full advantage. The font size should be no smaller than 10-point, standard serif or sans serif fonts, with plenty of space between lines and in the margins.

Get an outside opinion. Many online résumé writing services will review and polish your résumé, although you're the only person who can truly personalize your résumé to fit your objective. Before you send off your résumé, have a friend or mentor read through it for final input with a fresh perspective.

Make sure to use the right keywords. Most companies (even smaller ones) are already using digital databases to search for candidates. This means that the HR department will run search queries based on specific keywords, which are typically nouns. Be sure to check the job description and related job ads for key words and terminology that are used and update your résumé to match.

Source: careers.unitedhealthgroup.com