Now let’s look at a situation where it might not be to the job hunter’s advantage for his or her gender to be known. Terry Hoover (a woman) was after the same job that Robin (in the last scenario wanted). In order to be considered for the job, she chose not to add anything to her name–she simply put Terry Hoover on her resume, knowing the employer would have to guess whether she was a man or a woman until Terry met the employer in person. At that point, she’d be at the interview and able to sell herself as a fully qualified candidate.
Showing off Your Credentials
If you have a degree or credential that indicates your profession, you could put the initials of your degree or credential next to your name in the Heading section. For example Francine Wilkes was going for a position as a CPA in an accounting firm where her credential was extremely important to the job. She showed it off nicely by placing it in her heading.
Warren Samuel wanted the reader of his resume to immediately see that he’s a physician. He got the message across quickly by placing his degree next to his name in the Heading section of his resume. Job seekers respond differently to seeing their credential or degree letters next to their names. Some folks like the look of it; others aren’t at all comfortable having them there. It’s entirely up to you; do what feels appropriate for your field and personality.
Home Sweet Home
Putting your street address in your heading is preferable to listing a P.o. box number, because a home address conjures up a more stable image. If, however, you have a specific reason not to give out your street address, it’s acceptable to use a post-office address.
Job-Hunt Hint
Place your name in the top middle or the upper-right corner of the page. Why? After your resume is read, it will probably go into a filing cabinet with the left-hand side of the paper placed against the spine of a folder. Your name will be noticed easily if it’s in the top middle or in the upper-right corner of the page.
Career Casualty
If you have a second resume page, you must put a mini-heading at the top of that page, composed of your name and the page number. Otherwise the second page might get lost if the two are separated. Your name on page two should match the print of your name on page one, and may be the same point size or a little smaller.
Bonus Check
Make the font size of the letters of your credential one or two point sizes smaller if you place them immediately after your name. In this way, they maintain importance without graphically overpowering your name.
I Got your Number
your phone number is critical in your resume heading because your first contact from an employer will probably be by phone. Depending on your situation, you may want to list one or two phone numbers. By putting a phone number on your resume, you automatically give your potential employer permission to do the following:
- Call that number.
- Leave a message about your job search.
- Expect you to speak freely if you pick up the phone.
Be sure you’re okay with all three of these assumptions for each phone number in your heading. Following are a few cases in point. Gretchin Hendley didn’t want any job-search phone calls at her place of work, so in her heading, she listed only her home number where she had an answering machine that she could check from work. Larry Picasso, on the other hand, was being laid off, and everyone in his department was aware that he was looking for a new job. Therefore, it made perfect sense for him to list his office phone number in his heading, because he could receive messages and speak freely about his job search during business hours.
If you list only one phone number in your heading (as Gretchin did in the previous example), it will be assumed that it’s your home or personal line. If you give more than one phone number, you need to indicate the difference between them.
That’s the Fax
The fax rule of thumb: Don’t list a fax number in your heading unless you’re sending your resume to a recruiter. Recruiters frequently fax job postings and related information to job candidates, so they appreciate having the fax numbers readily available. Melissa Groden was sending her resume to a recruiter, so she included her fax number in the heading of her resume.
Employers, on the other hand, hardly ever fax a response to a job applicant, so putting a fax number on a resume you’re sending directly to a company is a waste of valuable space.
Job-Hunt Hint
Consider incorporating a horizontal line or shaded bar into the design of your heading to set it apart from the rest of the resume.
Career Casualty
Don’t go overboard by listing every contact number you have (home, office, cell, and pager). Give only the one or two needed to reach you or to leave a message.
E-Mail Giveaway
Listing your e-mail address (if you have one) in the Heading sec-tion is beneficial, providing that it can do two things:
- Expedite the employer’s response
- Demonstrate that you’re online savvy (a plus when applying for certain positions).
If either of these points applies to you, by all means put your e-mail address in your heading. Because Alice Friend was applying to a high-tech firm, she put her e-mail address on her resume, proving she’s comfortable online.
Job-Hunt Hint
If you list your fax number, introduce it with Fax: so that your potential employer can distinguish it from your phone number.
Bonus Check
Yahoo! and other online services offer free e-mail accounts with local access around theworld. If you don’t already have a personal e-mail account, consider getting one of thesefreebies for your job search.
Hot URLs
URLs (Web site addresses) are not commonly found in headings for two reasons:
- Most people don’t have a personal Web site (and most people don’t need one for their job search).
- Personal Web sites often contain private information and other stuff a potential employer shouldn’t see.
However, if you’re in Web site development, multimedia, or any field where your image might be enhanced because you have a spiffy per sonal Web site, put your URL in your heading along with your other contact information. Dawson Peroni, for instance, was applying for assignments as a Web game developer. Because his personal Web site had links to some of his projects, he included his URL in his resume’s heading.
Following are some example of addresses in headings. Sandra Steven used her home address in her heading section. Juanita Cuellar didn’t feel comfortable giving out her street address, So she choose her P.O. box number in her heading. Both headings are permissible, But Sandr’s address made her look little more stable than Juanita.
| Sandra Steven
123, Royal Rock Avenue, Memphis, NY-14345, (123)234- 45213 |
Sandra Steven’s Heading section
| Juanita Cullar P.O. Box 123, Memphis, NY – 14345. (123)234-45213 |
Juanita Cullar’s Heading Section
