Job hunting is challenging these days. Employers get flooded with applications for every opening and may spend as little as ten seconds screening each resume.
You should make every effort to make your resume stand out from the competition if you want to impress hiring managers and get called in for an interview.
Here are some suggestions that can help your resume stand out from the crowd and ensure that you get called in for an interview.
Formatting Your Résumé
1. Hit the highlights first. After your name and contact information, including your most crucial information at the top. The reviewer will pay attention to a concise and convincing assessment of your credentials and talents if it shows what you can do for the organization considering your credentials and achievements.
2. Err on the conservative side. Take it easy on the formatting tricks. Use bold and italics sparingly so that the text is easy to read. The best strategy is typically to present yourself as neat and professional.
3. Be consistent. Make your document easy to scan. Use a consistent format so that readers can easily follow your resume and locate all the pertinent details, such as firm names, dates, work titles, and accomplishments, at a glance.
4. Leave lots of white space. It's good to keep your résumé to one page but even better if you do that while maintaining normal margins and 11-point fonts. Make your resume look more attractive by using bullets and adding some white space between the lines.
5. Consider a combination format. You may hear some experts advising that you use a functional format in which you stress skills rather than your work history. According to surveys, many employers still prefer the traditional reverse chronology, so use both in two different sections to make sure you've covered all the bases.
6. Take the multimedia route. Consider supplementing your traditional paper résumé with a video or other digital content. Give people a link to your professional website or blog or use your LinkedIn Profile, in this way they can see your work history easily.
Creating Your Résumé
1. Emphasize keywords. Read the job posting carefully and integrate the keywords into your résumé. If your résumé gets screened by an automatic tracking system, this will help it rank higher.
2. Customize your résumé for each opening. These days, the competitive job market favors personalizing your résumé as much as possible. Try to adapt your language to what you know about the company's culture and the kind of candidate they're seeking, while still being authentic about your true identity.
3. Quantify your accomplishments. The contribution and experience you made in previous jobs are likely to be the most important factor in helping you get your next job. Focus on how you improved procedures, cut costs, won awards, earned promotions, or brought in new business.
4. Use action words. As you're describing your accomplishments, try to start each bullet with a verb. This makes you sound more dynamic and makes your résumé more interesting to read.
5. Be concise. To make your resume stand out, try to pack lots of information into as few words as possible. Avoid any repetition or empty jargon. Keep your sentences short.
6. Proofread everything. Print out a copy of your résumé to proofread. Read it backward word by word. Give it to at least one friend or family member because a fresh pair of eyes may spot typos that have become invisible to you.
Bonus tip:
Ready your cover letter. A cover letter's main purpose is to give additional context to your application. The purpose of the cover letter is to showcase your strongest technical skill attributes, discuss any gaps in your resume, and provide a little bit about yourself.
Conclusion:
The job market is tough, but a résumé that looks good and quickly demonstrates your strongest selling points could help you rise to the top of the stack. Give yourself the best chance to succeed by crafting a résumé that will make your prospective employer want to learn more about you.
You have a better chance of receiving an interview and securing a rewarding job if your resume is stronger. You can create a clear, thorough, and concise document that will wow employers by simply adhering to these easy steps, and you will be well on your way to resume success. So, start writing and gain attention!
So—what do you think?