As you periodically review your resume, you will want to look at substance, structure, and style. Let's take these points one at a time.
Substance
Let logic determine whether to add, retain, or delete information. If you are seeking a job in project management for an architectural-engineering firm, it's all right to delete that job from nine years ago when you were a call center operator, especially if your last nine years can highlight your project management skills.
You have likely heard that your resume should account for every minute of your professional life—leave no employment gaps. That is such old, played-out news. Employment gaps are okay, as long as what's in the resume shows you to be the powerhouse you are. You can always explain those employment gaps, honestly, of course, during the interview.
Structure
The same holds true for structure: Use common sense to decide how to lay out your life. Is your employment history stronger than your educational achievements? If yes, start with employment; if no, start with education. Does a single-column or double-column format work? The answer depends on whether one of the formats spills your content over to a single-section second or third page. If yes, go with the briefer format to save a page.
Avoid prose paragraphs. Use bullet points. The game plan is for your reader, the prospective employer, to scan your resume easily.
Style
Make sure the bullet points all begin consistently. Start bullet points about your past jobs with past tense; for your current job, start them with present tense.
To show you are a doer, use visual action verbs (wrote, present, manage, lead, create), not softer verbs (understand, review, know, ensure, consider). Avoid at all costs being verb beginnings (was responsible for, am aware of), which show little to nothing. Also, keep bullet lists within a group consistent in terms of all actions (diagnosed, supervised, tested) or all accomplishments (achieved, increased, decreased).
Finally, proofread carefully and have zero tolerance for the slightest flaw. If you are unsure about whether a phrase or word is correct or standard usage, ask an expert whose opinion you value highly. Proper detail, formatting, and style matter so much to your readers.
