If you’re nervous about making your resume, you could hire a resume service. This is the ideal solution for many people. But you can also make your resume yourself–it’s easier than you think. All the resume does is present you and your skills in an organized fashion to a prospective employer. If you can do that, your resume can get you in the door for that all-important job interview.

1. Neatness counts. Make sure the margins are even on both sides and between the top and bottom. Use a consistent font, with another font used only for stand-out things like your name, address and contact information at the top, not throughout the resume. This will give it a sloppy appearance. Be consistent with punctuation–for instance, don’t use a period at the end of only half your list items when listing skills.

2. Spelling counts. Spell check with your computer. Then proofread carefully. Have someone else proofread. A misspelling on a resume is one fast way to have it end up in the filing cabinet, or the garbage can. It’s your first impression, and if they see you didn’t even bother to spell correctly, they won’t be impressed.

3. Keep it to one page if at all possible. They have to read hundreds of resumes–they’ll appreciate the brevity.