Have you ever thought about the number of people who read your resume? It is probably a hiring manager who does it, and, maybe, your potential direct boss. Not really. Usually the list of those who see your resume ranges from 3 (in smaller firms) to 5 (in larger companies) people. You may think that it does not matter a lot, but it, in fact, does. People who read your resume are of different backgrounds, age, sex, position, and it is your primary job to make sure your resume doesn’t offend any the people’s personal beliefs and feelings.

The skills you need to acquire are usually name “technical communication” skills because you have to learn how to express yourself in clear and concise writing and not to offend anyone or have anybody misinterpret what you’ve written. There are two main factors to consider:

1. Use neutral language.

Unbiased and non-sexist language is considered neutral. It is important you use such language when writing your resume. The peculiarity of modern life is that females have constituted a large part of the workforce, but the appropriate replacements for the masculine-oriented terms have not been yet found. Make sure you try to avoid such words as “policeman”, “fireman”, “postman” (if you need you can use neutral substitutions “police officer”, “fire fighter”, “postal worker”). A bigger problem appears when using a “person” or a “one” (as indefinite subjects) and then choosing pronouns for their substitution. The variants to use are he/she, or put the initial subject in plural and refer to it as “they”.

2. Be confident, but not arrogant in your writing.

The person who will read you resume is surely more knowledgeable than you in the sphere, that is why showing deference is necessary. However, you should not appear weak or abject. You should show confidence and capability. Describing your achievements and skills is appropriate, but writing your personal opinions how important and great those attainments are is superfluous. Try to keep to business etiquette language and be respectful at all times.