The Career Portfolio Workbook

lar job you are now pursuing, you should take another look at the sub-

headings you have created.

You may wish to add modifiers to your P.E.A.K.S. subheadings so

that these headings describe the specific kinds of P.E.A.K.S. being

sought in candidates. If, for example, a prospective employer is looking

for someone who has superb people skills, and you have done work or

performed a service that required particular finesse in working with

people, list these as “People Skills”rather than just calling them “Skills.”

Use P.E.A.K.S. subheadings to create opportunities to show your

portfolio.Headings that accurately describe desired P.E.A.K.S. are

likely to prompt questions that will give you opportunities to show doc-

uments in your portfolio that give evidence of these P.E.A.K.S.

Step 7: Editing for Language, Length, and Visual Presentation

Here are some things to think about as you edit your targeted resume

for its look and language.

Use language that recipients of your resume will understand and

like.Do not use jargon that the readers of your resume are unlikely to

understand. And try to use terms that they will like. For example, if the

people who will be reviewing your resume are looking for aspiring lead-

ers, use leader instead of manager and led rather than managed when

describing your supervision of activities.

Check for correctness of spelling, usage, and grammar.Mis-

spellings and poorly constructed sentences create a very negative im-

pression. Recipients of resumes have very little patience for resumes

that are poorly written, and they are likely to have even less patience

for authors of such resumes. Remember that computer programs de-

signed to catch spelling, grammar, and usage errors do not always iden-

tify every mistake. If possible, ask someone who is a good writer or ed-

itor to proofread your resume.

Use terms, fonts, and a format that computer programs will prop-

erly read and print.Keep in mind that resumes are often scanned first

by computers for key words and phrases. So be sure to use correct terms

when describing the kind of job you are looking for, and when you are

describing your P.E.A.K.S. try to use words and phrases that comput-

ers are likely to have been programmed to pick up. Make sure that you

use fonts that computers are likely to be able to “read.”

When you e-mail a resume that is in a word processing format,

such as Microsoft Word, the document may not print exactly as you sent

it. For example, a one-page resume that is forwarded in a word pro-

cessing format may come out as more than one page when the recipient

prints it. For this reason you may decide to e-mail your resume as an

attachment in a PDF (Portable Document Format).

Do not exceed two pages.You may have heard that resumes should

only be one page. The real issue with a resume is not its length but its

perceived ease of reading. Since a P.E.A.K.S. resume can be read quick-

ly, you can extend its length to two pages. You never want to leave out

vital information that would be supportive of your candidacy.

Chapter 5: Creating Resumes That Work with Your Portfolio 75