Crafting the Perfect Resume

It’s important to keep updating your resume. A resume is an easy way to showcase your accomplishments and experience for the hiring manager to review, but how it is written will determine whether it will end up at the top of the pile or in the trash bin.

On average, recruiters spend about 6 seconds reviewing each resume to get the first impression and determine whether or not the candidate would be a good fit. For this reason, it’s important to standout with a compelling cover letter and a well-crafted resume.

In an earlier blog post, we defined the common resume mistakes, so now here are tips to help your resume stand out.

1. Proofread for spelling, grammar and style errors.

Typos and writing mistakes are a sure way to land your resume in the trash. Even inconsistent punctuation could be an eye sore for recruiters. With so many applicants, recruiters would eliminate a resume for a simple mistake like grammar. Your resume should communicate to the hiring manager that you have great attention to detail, so proofread and have someone else proofread your resume, too!

2. Be short and to the point.

If a recruiter only takes 6 seconds to review your resume, it’s best to keep your resume concise and direct. This way, it can easily be scanned. Also, if you put too much detail, what are you supposed to talk about in your interview?

Make sure you include experience that is pertinent to the position you are applying for. Adding unnecessary information, like details about your high school job in a coffee shop, would be considered clutter, especially if you applied for a job as an engineer.

3. Focus on what you accomplished rather than your responsibilities.

Hiring managers want to hire someone who can get things done, so your resume should highlight your accomplishments for each position rather than what you were responsible for. Following instructions isn’t that impressive, but details about goals accomplished or awards received is.

4. Include keywords and use action verbs.

In most cases, recruiters will feed your resume through a screening program to pick up keywords that relate to the position. If the resume doesn’t include those keywords, then the program will ignore that resume, while others that did are sent through to the hiring manager. For example, if you’re applying for a sales position, include terms like “customer service” and “revenue growth.” For ideas on keywords specific to your career, take a look at the job posting.

Always use strong action verbs when describing each position. Some action verbs include:

  • Analyzed
  • Generated
  • Developed
  • Educated
  • Furthered
  • Incorporated
  • Investigated
  • Managed
  • Mediated
  • Resolved

5. Avoid vague language.

Along with your strong action verbs, make sure your resume is clear and easy to understand. Describing your accomplishments should be about specifics rather than saying that your efforts were successful, such as including a percent increase or the amount of money that was earned or saved as a result. These are called measurables and they allow recruiters to better understand the impact of your accomplishment.

6. Content over layout.

Your content should speak for itself without an impressive layout. Unless it’s a demonstration of your skill set, having fancy graphics, fonts or attempts at originality in your resume’s layout can be overwhelming and unprofessional. Having a resume with a simple design that is consistent and easy to read is the most important goal.

7. Know your audience.

Once your resume is completed, customize different versions of your resume for each job posting you apply for. Every employer, even in the same profession, is looking for different qualifications. Simply, emphasize qualifications that are listed on the job posting.

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