1. Read the Job Posting!!
The best place to find content for your resume is in the job postings themselves. The Job posting outlines the skills and qualities for their ideal candidate, so why not use them to improve your own resume? Use the keywords and buzzwords that they have in the job description and apply them to your own resume where they are relevant.
b. For Example: If you are applying for an accounting position that asks for strong ‘Critical Thinking Skills’, If you have this skill then add this term to your resume in your experience or skills section.
2. Review Sample Resumes
If you want to be a Project Manager for a hospital then search for it on Google or Baidu! Often times people post sample resumes that are relevant to that industry/job. Use these as guidelines for when you write your own resume. They often have very good sentence structuring, formatting and buzzwords.
3. Action & Power Words
Be impactful. In the English language some words are simply better than others and are able to instill a greater amount of excitement to a reader. Pull out the thesaurus and rework your sentences by beefing them up with words that demonstrate your expertise.
4. Keep it short – Quality over Quantity
You have to remember that someone will be reading your resume and they will be reading 10 – 100 other resume as well which can be BORING. With that being said the resume reader is also under a tight deadline to get through the resumes and pick good candidates, so they will often skip resumes that are too long to read through. I am a strong believer that your resume should be a Maximum of 1 page. This doesn’t mean you can’t adjust the margins and change the font but 1 page at a max for your resume. Even the most experienced people in the world keep a resume short and simple. If you find your self writing over this you have to really consider what experience is worth while for the resume reader to know? You want to make sure that each and every sentence you write has a solid impact on the resume reader and leaves them believing that you are the best candidate for this job.
Don’t forget – good communication is a good skill to have and easy demonstrated by having a clear and concise resume!
5. Edit, Edit, Edit
I can’t say this one enough. Edit your work. Have your parents review your work. Your Friends. Make sure you have the opinion of multiple people before you send off your Resume into the inbox of the Hiring manager. A simple spelling mistake or improper sentence structure may be enough to have you written off before you even have a chance! Use the resources you have around you and make sure your first impressions (Your Resume) is the best you that you can be. This doesn’t mean that you have to do this before you send off your resume every time but have a solid base Resume that you can reuse as jobs come up.
6. Numbers
A lot of resumes end up being more qualitative than quantitative, but never discount the powerful effects of using numbers in your resume. Don’t just state that you managed people at a retail store, let the resume reader know just how many! If you reviewed insurance documents in your past job, you can make it more powerful by stating that is was over 50 per day. By stating numbers it allows you to ground your resume in facts and making it tangible to the reader.
7. Style it Up
Who likes looking at a boring page full of text? You can do a lot to a resume by simply making it look attractive! You want the reader to be as excited and as impressed as possible immediately after looking at the resume. Referencing my point #2, when you are reviewing sample resumes, you will see a great many different styles and formatting. There will be no perfect style or format but do your best to find one that represents you best. Remember the saying ‘only have one first impression’, well that counts for resumes too!
8. Be Yourself
Many people are trying to be something they are not or are trying to fit a particular ‘mold’. Show your personality in the resume and it will create a more genuine human connection with the resume reader. This could include listing hobbies, sports, associations or volunteer activities. Understand that the person reading your resume is a person too and if you can show them your inner awesome self that will give you an edge over your competition.
Feeling stuck? Contact us today (info@Uniexplore.com) and our team of professionals can help you improve your resume from the ground up.