Quiz: How Stellar Is Your Résumé?

Take this quiz to see if your resume will land you an interview.

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Marty Nemko
Marty Nemko
How likely will your résumé land you an interview?

To assess that, imagine you're your target employer. How would you rate your résumé on each of these:

1. The summary. Is your summary well matched to the job you're applying for? If few people are likely to be as well matched, so much the better.

Your score from 0 to 20:____

2. Your career's progression. You've had a consistent ascendancy of responsibility in which your target job is the next logical step.

Your score from 0 to 20:____


Your score from 0 to 20:____

4. Your skills. Do your presented skills match up well with the job posting? And if your skills are rare – for example, programming in assembly language – so much the better.

Your score from 0 to 20:____

5. Your education. Is your education ideal for this job? Sometimes, you can have too much education for the job. For example, if you're applying for a position normally held by people with bachelors degrees from second-tier colleges and you have a Ph.D. from Harvard University, the employer may fear that you'll soon quit for a higher-level position.

Your score from 0 to 10:____


Your score from 0 to 5:____

7. Language. Your résumé is devoid of artificial-sounding résumé-speak such as "Self-starting team-playing, people person. Seeks opportunity with dynamic, progressive company." Instead, the language is clear, professional, but human.

Your score from 0 to 15:____

8. Conciseness. The best résumé have no padding. It could be one page or four pages, but everything makes the target employer think, "Yes, I want to interview that person." You make liberal use of one-line bullets.

Your score from 0 to 15:____

9. Ethics. Is your résumé free of deception and even the perception that it might be deceptive – for example, not listing months of employment? Even if you're not motivated by an intrinsic need to be ethical, employers are ever more diligent in verifying résumé information.

Your score from 0 to 20:____

10. Format. In the printed version, there's plenty of white space. The electronic version has been formatted for online viewing.

Your score from 0 to 15:____

Utterly Unvalidated Scoring Key

140-160: If you're applying for on-target jobs, your résumé should help you land an interview

120-140: Your résumé may help

90-120: Neutral

70-90: Your résumé may hurt

Below 70: Your résumé will hurt
