Home » Writing a Good Resume » Creating the Right Header
Including the right contact information
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 scenerio 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 Wilks was going for a position as a CPA in an accounting firmwhere her credential was extremely important to the job. She showed it off nicely by placing it in her heading.
Warren Samuels 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 preferabls 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-rightcorner 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 youplace 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.