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Resumes use a unique style of writing to emphasize brevity in order to maximize the reader’s time. This is especially important since the average resume receives fewer than 30 seconds of the reader’s time upon first review.

Many people find this style of writing a bit confusing, so here is an explanation about “resume speak.”

• Resumes use a version of first-person style but omit the subject (“I” / “me” / “my”).

• We use present tense for activities you currently perform, and past tense for past activities and achievements — particularly for older positions on your resume, but also to describe responsibilities you once performed in your current job, but no longer do.

• To emphasize brevity, we remove most articles (“a” / “an” / “the” / “my”), except when doing so would hurt the readability of the sentence.

• We write in a strong, active style, emphasizing action verbs (“direct” / “manage” / “lead” / “conduct”) instead of passive descriptions of activity.

• Most often, numbers one through nine are spelled out; numbers 10 and above are expressed as numbers.

Thus, this paragraph is incorrect:

“I am a dedicated professional with extensive experience in corporate accounting, budgeting, and financial…

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Jessica H. Hernandez
Jessica H. Hernandez

Written by Jessica H. Hernandez

A nationally recognized and award-winning executive resume writer, Jessica H. Hernandez is President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. https://www.greatresumesfast.com

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