Tips for Writing a Righteous Resume!
In my last post, I discussed some best practices for writing cover letters. Together, your cover letter and resume can create an effective one-two punch to make your job application stand out.
Your cover letter demonstrates how you’ve applied your experience, but how do you make the experience itself ‘pop’ in your resume? Here are some more best practices that I’ve learned throughout my career, both as an applicant and as a hiring manager.
Selected relevant experience: Depending on the length of your career, you want to be selective about what you include in your resume. Remember that you don’t want your resume to exceed two sides. Yes, it’s hard to believe that 2005 was fifteen years ago already, so you might want to omit the oldest content if it reduces the overall length of your resume.Your cover letter can fill in any relevant gaps. You also want to pick aspects of your various roles that best fit what the job ad says.
Formatting: As I also mentioned previously, determine the voice of the company before you decide on how to design your resume. I remember reading an article a while ago about a candidate who crafted their resume look like a bar of chocolate, which I thought was amazing. However, I would only suggest this approach if you’re going for a more creative position. Match your own tone to that of the organization -- don’t be too informal.
Make it easy to read: Put yourself in the seat of the person sifting through all those resumes. For each job you’d like to feature, consider writing a brief summary of the role itself, followed by a few bullet points that demonstrate how your accomplishments connect to the job you’re applying for. Include clear headings for different sections (e.g. Education, Skills, and so forth).
No longer than two sides: This is pretty straightforward and relates to some of the previous points. You don’t want to submit a thesis. I’ve instantly disregarded resumes that have been longer than two pages. Job ads will always specify when they want applicants to deviate from this format. For example, they’ll state if a one-page resume is required, or if you should extend a resume with specific examples from elsewhere in your career.
Show them you’re able to work: When I first moved over to the U.S., there were undoubtedly some red flags raised when all of my work and educational experience was from a different country. I’ve found that if you’re new to a country while job hunting, say so at the top of your resume. This will demonstrate that you won’t require visa sponsorship from the company in the future.
Think about your audience: If you only take one thing away from this post, let this be it: read the damn job ad! It’ll prepare you for the interview, which I’ll cover next week, and help you complete the application more effectively. Remember to replicate the voice of the company within your resume, and don’t lie about what you can bring to the table! Not only is excessively embellishing your resume dishonest and a waste of everyone’s time, but it’ll make your life a nightmare in the interview, as well as in the unlikely event you did get that job.
Proofread and update regularly: If in doubt, proofread again. If you’re anything like me, you’re prone to run-on sentences and other avoidable mistakes, such as repeating the same words over and over again. I find myself using ‘successfully’ and ‘contributed’ too often in my first drafts. Instead, consult a thesaurus to make your writing sound less redundant. Use your thesaurus sparingly though, or else you’ll end up with an application that reads like this. You wouldn’t believe the number of times that people have told me they want to start applying but “don’t know where to start with updating my resume”. If you commit to making minor updates every now and again, it’ll make jumping back into the job market a less daunting task, believe me!
Don’t forget the soft skills: I’ve found that a lot of candidates forgo adding their soft skills, in an attempt to cover every single job you’ve held. If you’re applying for a role in management, for instance, soft skills can be just as important as some of your past experiences. If it’s a choice between writing about that summer job in college or adding something about how you’re a great team builder and motivator, it’s a no-brainer.
Contact information and references: You don’t need to list the name and address of a reference, unless specified in the job ad. Do remember to mention ‘References available upon request’, as it prompts the hiring manager to follow up, which we also covered in the last article. Don’t forget to clearly display your contact at the top. Lastly, please ditch your very first email address or any unprofessional looking one. Yes, MegaMac420@hotmail.com may have been the envy of all your high school buddies, but now you’re applying for a grown-up job!
Keywords! You may have read some articles with cursory references to Applicant Tracking Software, and systems that can root out applications that don’t use keywords. My big tip here is not to sweat it. If you’ve read the job ad, customized your resume, and followed the rest of the steps here, you should be absolutely fine. These measures are in place to weed out the time wasters and those who blindly hammer the ‘Apply Now’ button -- which hopefully I’ve dissuaded you from doing by now, right?
So there you have it, 10 top tips for your next resume. These are by no means definitive, but they’ve served me well and I hope they’ll be useful to many future applicants as well. If you’ve got any questions, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll help where I can. Likewise, we can help each other out by leaving a comment below or even sharing the article. Happy job hunting!