Resumes really haven’t changed much over the course of the last 50 or 60 years. Sure, fonts have been updated and everyone uses fancy paper now, but the content is still the same format. So, what are you going to do differently to stand out to your next church?
Be Yourself
I’m a big fan of customization in everything I do. I can’t just take a graphic and slap it on my website; I have to make it my own, add a splash or change something about it to make it my own: I want it to really reflect me. Your resume can be the same — customize your resume to reflect your personality. If your personality includes unicorns and rainbows, maybe you should reign it in a little, but there is a blend of casual and professional that is now accepted in church culture (the same way that a two day beard can now be considered casually professional, whereas twenty years ago it would be an indicator that you were possibly homeless). In the world of resumes, expressing yourself can happen from the type of paper, style, and color.
Use Fonts
For the love of all that is holy, do not use Courier New as your go-to font (unless you are old enough to remember when Courier New was actually new. Then, and only then, are you exempted from this rule). Also, no matter what position you’re applying for, cute fonts that have little swirls, or over-used fonts (like Papyrus) are no-no’s. Ask anyone and they will agree.
You’re allowed to use a font other than Arial or Times New Roman, but don’t go crazy. Stay professional, again, with a touch of casual. More contemporary fonts like Cambria, Century Gothic, or Candara are good options, as well as fonts that are commonly found on the internet, such as Open Sans. There is no list of good fonts and bad fonts, simply use discretion and choose wisely. A resume with the Arial font will not stand out as an exceptionally creative resume, but a resume written in Lucida Calligraphy will also likely find its way to the trash can.
Style Your Resume
Formatting and Style are paramount to a great resume because they speak to your creativity and organizational skills. How you order your education, goals, achievements, credentials, and other information can be telling of your personality strengths and weaknesses. Take time to organize your resume well so you can be sure your sentences are succinct, clear, and necessary to convey the appropriate information. Write and rewrite sentences to be sure to get the most mileage out of each job description, ministry experience, and credential.
Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation
There are few excuses for typos anymore today. Every word processor has grammatical and spelling tools, and you should use them. Don’t invent new words on your resume; that will not go over well with a potential employer. Also, don’t use contractions (pun intended, folks). An example of a contraction would be the second word in the previous sentence. Contractions are not professional and have no place in a resume. Don’t write sentence after sentence without them flowing well together, as I have done in this paragraph. When you stick sentence after sentence together, the text doesn’t flow well and your resume will simply be boring and feel disconnected. Instead, write a brief paragraph and then use bullet points to get your point across. I’ll rewrite the above to illustrate:
With technology and resources available today to assist in resume writing, your resume can easily give a professional impression on every reader by following these simple steps:
- Use grammatical and spelling tools in your word processor to avoid spelling errors and typos.
- Don’t invent new words on your resume; that will not go over well with a potential employer.
- The use of contractions is unprofessional on a resume. Examples of contractions would be “don’t” or “can’t” or “y’all”.
- Do not write sentence after sentence without them flowing well together.
In addition to the above tips, you should also avoid verb tense confusion, for example:
At Grace Church I was in charge of the counseling ministries. I oversee eight on-staff counselors who reported directly to me.
Switching from the past tense “I was in charge” to present tense in the next sentence “I oversee” will give an unprofessional and even confusing impression to your readers. The more subtle, but still inconsistent switch is from “I oversee” to “reported” later in this same sentence. Although present tense is more appealing to read for most, only your current ministries and activities should be listed in the present tense, and all others should be listed in the past tense.
(As a side note, number confusions are common as well; “An example of my duties include teaching, counseling, and discipleship.”)
At Grace Church I was in charge of the counseling ministries. I oversee eight on-staff counselors who reported directly to me.
The above quote also highlights the importance of writing numbers in resumes. Current professional standards indicate that number between one and nine should be written as words, whereas numbers over nine should be listed numerically (i.e. eight, nine, 10, 11). Don’t be an overachiever and write out two thousand fourteen unless you’re writing a wedding invitation, in which case you’re on the wrong blog, buddy.
At Grace Church I was in charge of the counseling ministries. I oversee eight on-staff counselors who reported directly to me.
The final thought I will leave you with today again brings us to the above quote and relates to my earlier comment about “getting the most mileage out of each sentence.” Saying, “I oversee eight on-staff counselors who reported directly to me” is redundant; if you oversaw the counselors, of course they reported directly to you. Instead, say; “As Director, eight on-staff counselors report directly to me,” or omit the “As Director” portion entirely, depending on which exact context you are writing in. Again, the importance of getting the most mileage out of each and every sentence, and you can do that by writing and rewriting your resume to ensure that you are truly highlighting the experiences, skills, and strengths that make you irresistible for the job.