Job searching can be tiring and frustrating. It can feel quite saddening to send out resumes every single day and not receive feedback or a call. To reduce the chances of this happening and make sure you’re in top shape for the job market you need a good resume.
Recruiters and hiring managers get hundreds of resumes every single day. More often than not, they receive resumes of the same quality and from people with similar achievements so it can be difficult to stand out. However, it is not impossible. Here are 9 tips you should follow to create a resume that stands out.
Reach out to the company’s employees
If you’re looking to apply to a certain company, the first thing to do is see if you’re able to contact any of their employees in the same department you’re applying to. If you can’t do this personally, visit their LinkedIn profile and consider sending them an email. This is scary to do but it is the best way to ensure your résumé is exactly what you’re looking for. There are several outlines and drafts online that you can reference while writing your email. Ensure you keep it short, respectful, and straight to the point. If they reply use the information you receive to craft the résumé the company desires. If you’re unable to contact an employee, a quick Google search might be all you need. If you’re applying to a large company then there should be information on what their recruiters like online. Find this information and utilize it efficiently.
Keep it Brief
Your resume should not be ten pages long. One or two pages should be enough with the exception of the IT sector. It should not detail every single thing you have done. More explicitly, it should also not detail every single achievement you have accomplished. Keep out outdated or unnecessary achievements. Secondary achievements can be reserved for the actual interview. The recruiter doesn’t need to know all your achievements. They need to know the necessary and applicable ones.
Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization only applies to a company or recruiter that uses software to scan the resumes they receive before reading them manually. This is now more common than ever. Read the vacancy description closely and try to use the keywords in your résumé as well. If there are no clear keywords, find out the words that are most likely to be highlighted by the software. This way your résumé will get to the recruiter instead of being discarded by their software.
Performance-Based
Ensure your résumé focuses heavily on your performance. Keep the anecdotes to a minimum. Keep the narration to a minimum and focus on your performance. Outline what you can do and then mention instances where you have performed said activity. If you’re talking about leadership, write out the instances where you have been a leader. If you mention teaching, provide instances where you have taught or tutored. Your résumé should always be performance-based. 20% telling and 80% showing.
Include Experience relevant to the Position
Recruiters are rumored to spend less than ten seconds on each résumé therefore you have to get straight to the point. Include achievements or experience relevant to the post you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a teaching post, include experience in tutoring and leadership. That sort of experience can be transferred over to teaching and the recruiter will take note of that. If you still need to list other achievements then ensure the relevant ones come first and are given the most attention. The others should simply be numbered.
Discuss your Achievements
These goes hand in hand with the previous point. Outline and briefly discuss your achievements. If you do not know how to do this efficiently then follow the PAR rule. This means Problem, Action, and Result. This rule is very helpful and easy to follow. The first thing you do is state the problem you encountered. The next step is to outline the actions you took to combat the problem and finally the result which should be you solving the problem. This is an easy way to outline your achievements especially if you suffer from impostor syndrome or low self-esteem.
No fancy texts or templates
This is important for two reasons. The first one being the software might not accept a fancy or complicated template. Secondly, the recruiter may not appreciate fonts that look nice but are hard to read.
If you can, include a summary
Some recruiters allow summaries while some don’t. Summaries are much easier for a recruiter to read, and they state your intentions While writing your summary ensure that you are using very concise words in your summary. A simple way to put it would be to state what you have done and what you are looking for. Your previous place of employment if it proves to be useful and exactly what you’re looking for. If you’re more interested in a job you’re passionate about rather than getting a job immediately then you can be clearer and more explicit in stating what you’re looking for. However, if you need a job quickly, regurgitate, and repeat the words used in the vacancy post. If the post reads “We need a passionate team player” then use those exact words in your summary, so they know you’re exactly what they are looking for.
Start with the important information
Always start with the important information. Your name, education, previous employment, and achievements are all bits of information that should always be on your first page. Start with the important details because the chances the recruiter will flip to the second or third pages are not very high.
These are our top 9 tips for creating a resume that stands however we still have a few more secondary tips to share. Use metrics and numbers in your resume. For example, while stating achievements, don’t state”I tutored a class of students”, use “I tutored a class of 50 students”. Finally, ensure your LinkedIn is functioning, up to date, and perfectly aligned with your résumé. Some recruiters will check your LinkedIn profile to ensure you’re not exaggerating or providing false claims.
