You're applying for a job. How can you make your resume and cover letter stand out?

Make sure your cover letter and CV are unique to the job description by adding achievements and skills that are relevant. Make sure they follow a clear format and use keywords from the job posting to make them ATS-friendly. Keep both documents free of errors, and personalize your cover letter to show your excitement for the position.

As a specialized reverse recruiter I advise my clients to not send a cover letter, no one reads them. Trying to edit your resume for every single job will get you nowhere fast. Instead, start with a strategy and align your resume to the strategy. Strategy is based on your expertise and how you can leapfrog and differentiate yourself from other candidates vying for the same job you want.

35 years as a headhunter, IT & Financial Trading 2 kinds of resumes: read by a computer or read by a human. If it is to be read by a human, read on. Omit cover letter. Omit summary. Omit objective. Omit headings eg: EDUCATION and EMPLOYMENT. Bullet point up to 3 lines starts with 1 of these words: Increased decreased earned saved. Put one of these first. Put that word, followed by a number at the head of the bullet point, in BOLD, not caps. Place a period at the end. The readers eyes will go there first and nothing quite says, here is what I accomplished, than this method. Your resume is accomplishments, not responsibilities. It is not about method Hold how you did it for the interview. Write down how you did it, remember that.

As a graphic designer, make your resume and cover letter stand out with a clean, creative layout that’s easy to read. Use well-chosen fonts, subtle colors, and consistent branding (like a logo or tagline). Tailor both documents to the job, highlighting relevant skills and linking to your portfolio. Start your cover letter with an engaging opening and include examples of your design work. Keep it visually balanced with good use of white space, showing both your creativity and professionalism.

Focus on outcomes, not just activities: It’s easy to say what you did, but what employers really want to know is how well you did it. For example, instead of “Responsible for training sales staff,” go for, “Trained a team of sales staff, improving productivity and leading to a 23% increase in sales.” Quantify your impact - numbers speak more than words! For example, instead of saying, “I worked in sales,” say, “I increased sales by 25%.” Be descriptive - rather than just saying, “Graduated from university,” try something like, “Graduated with a 1st class degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester.”

Beyond using keywords, personalize your resume and cover letter to directly address the job's requirements and company culture. Research the company’s values, mission, and recent projects to tailor your application materials accordingly. Use specific examples to illustrate how your experience and skills align with the job’s needs and how you can contribute to their goals. This demonstrates genuine interest and a proactive approach. Need help tailoring your resume and cover letter to stand out? My professional writing services can ensure your application highlights the perfect blend of keywords and personalized content to make a lasting impression.

It's simply not true that ATS reject CV's that don't contain certain keywords. Unless you flag one of the knock-out questions (for example living in certain location, or having right to work), your CV is guaranteed to land in front of the hiring manager or recruiter. It's recruiters who reject applicants, not machines. Period. Ahh also... don't spend money on "ATS-complaint resume formats" from people who tell you bad robots are waiting to reject you. They are lying to you.

Don't get fooled by Canva trendy CV's. Best CV's are simple, plain, clean and readable. There are no graphs, columns, pictures and colours. Well-formatted CV has: - Concise writing. - Bullet points. - A few words about the company you have worked for. - Achievements instead of job description. - Clean writing without pompous words like "visionary", "achieving excellence" etc. - Career experience before education (unless you are a doctor or a lawyer where it counts) Less is more.

At the end of the day - your CV should not be rejected because you've made a typo. We are all humans and none of us is perfect. However... these days it's a simple situation to avoid. You can use free Grammarly plugin that will review your writing. Also most of the document editors (like google docs) have a built in structure/writing checker. It's a great practice to read your CV out loud - this way if you find yourself having a sentence that stretches across 5 lines, it's very easy to spot it and to correct it. Remember - less is more. Always take away, not add-in.

As a rule of thumb, after you have submitted your application, if you have not heard from the recruiter or hiring manager in two weeks, you should send an email to follow up. If you’ve spoken to someone, wait 1 week and contact them as a follow up. Post interview, you should send a nice follow up message within 24 hours. Then send another follow up email if there's no response in 1+ weeks.

True story. Retired IT & Finance headhunter I was 72 & finishing an MA in history @ Ark State Univ Invited to teach sales course at B school to graduating MBA's. I had met the prof and her husband socially, she ran the MBA program, she invited me. A room full of hopeful students in not the greatest job market waiting to hear from someone that has been oversold. I am too straightforward to live outside of a large urban environment. Rude in Arkansas is different than rude in Chicago or NYC. I do not sugar coat excrement. Before I could say anything, the hub bub died down when a student shouted, "is there anything we can do to guarantee we get a good job?" I answered, "yes, graduate from Princeton. Then I spoke. I was heard. Why?

In the world of AI follow up emails are filtered it just hard unless your resume gets through. Most people don’t hear a thing lately which seems like it’s a ghost job posting.