Your resume is frequently the first a potential employer will see of you. Ultimately, a good resume means a good first impression and often the difference between an interview and the trash can. Your aim is to create a well- crafted, impressive document that displays the experience, accomplishments and skills that make you the perfect candidate for the job.
The Content of Your Resume
Be Concise
A resume should ideally be one page in length and a maximum of two. Hiring managers are faced with hundreds of resumes a day. You’ll have at most 30 seconds to show them you’re a candidate they want to meet so make sure your qualifications are front and center.
Measurable Results
Always provide meaningful and measurable accomplishments. A potential employer wants to see the results you can offer them, not the daily tasks you completed. After all, the 30% increase in revenue you brought to your previous company will impress far more than your ability to collate documents.
Be Relevant
Being the captain of your high school football team or the host at a restaurant may impress your friends and family but if it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for it won’t impress the hiring manager reading your resume. Always customize your resume to the job you’re applying for and assess how each role shows the relevant skills that make you the perfect fit for the job.
Use Keywords
Read the job posting carefully. The hiring manager will have used keywords to describe their ideal candidate. Highlight those words and include them in your resume. They will stand out to the manager looking at your resume later and will keep them reading.
Use Action Verbs
Hiring managers want to see a proactive applicant. No one wants to employ someone who seems passive and uninteresting. Always use dynamic, positive verbs such as “achieved” or “launched” to describe your past accomplishments.
State the Facts
Present yourself as a proactive applicant but don’t come across as arrogant. Your accomplishments may be great but giving the impression that you’re superior to others is off-putting. Most employers want a team player as much as they do a leader.
Spell Check
Never rely on an automated spell checker. The number one reason resumes end up in the trash is spelling. If your resume has spelling or grammatical errors, it will automatically be rejected. So read it, re-read it, ask someone else to read it and then leave it overnight before re-reading it again. If after this you still can’t find any errors then you can send it off.
Phone a Friend
As mentioned before, always have someone else read over your resume before sending it off. As the person who wrote it, you know what you were trying to say. Fresh eyes can not only show you spelling errors but can also reveal when your writing isn’t clear. If your friend or family member can’t understand what you’re trying to say then a hiring manager certainly won’t.