5 Tips for a Stronger Resume
It is time for a new beginning! Whether you are looking for a promotion, new employment, or a challenge to get your outside your comfort zone it is imperative you have a resume that will blow companies’ socks off.
Boasting all your greatest accomplishments can be hard. On one hand you don’t want to come off as full of yourself, but on the other hand you want to make yourself impressive to a future employer. Finding that balance can be stressful—especially when you only have a page, maybe two to accomplish it. The resume writing process can be incredibly overwhelming which is why we are here to help with a few tips to get you started.
Ways to ‘Wow’ on your Resume
1. Spelling, grammar and punctuation matter. You’ve gone through and made sure you highlighted all of your amazing career accomplishments and let’s be honest—it’s tough to beat your experience. Unfortunately, what you missed giving a thorough vetting of was your spelling and punctuation and it is glaringly bad. Making sure you turn in a clean piece of work might be the most important thing you do. It can be the tiebreaker between two good candidates, and you don’t want to lose out because of something so easy to fix. Whether you need to hold on to your resume for an extra day to catch any errors or hand it over to a friend for editing make sure you take the time. It is such a small thing that can make a big difference.
2. Stay true to you. Your resume should reflect you, your accomplishments, and your personality. Not some fictional version of yourself or someone else. Lies will eventually be found out so it’s best to keep it honest and highlight what you can actually do.
3. Keep the job you are applying for in mind. While you want to stay honest about what you have actually accomplished in your career, it is important to highlight key words and phrases that match the job description you are applying for more closely. For example, let’s say you have a lot of experience working in customer service, but are looking to move up into more of a manager role in hospitality. Think about aspects of working in customer service that would apply to working as a manager in hospitality and highlight those.
4. Employers are looking for active results, not a list of skills. Did you boost your company’s sales by a significant amount? Make sure you let it be known. Adding tangible numbers that show the results of your efforts at work is important. Much more important than simply saying you can type fast on Microsoft Word. Don’t be afraid to add details of your previous employment that will showcase how you can help increase productivity in this new position you are applying for.
5. Keep it simple and only highlight what is important. Employers have a short attention span which means you don’t want to waste time on details of your employment that will not catch their eye. Get to the good stuff quick and stay as focused on that as you can. You don’t want your resume to exceed two pages (one page is most ideal), but that means being disciplined in what you choose to showcase so make it good!
Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither should your resume. It takes time and effort to not only construct the perfect resume on paper, but to have anything to put on it in the first place. It takes time to build experience to land your dream job. If you find yourself still waiting to land your dream position don’t be afraid to jump into opportunities that will help strengthen your case on your resume. Community service or an internship in a related discipline to what you are going after can be a difference maker.