How to make your resume stand out this fall
Olivia Attwood
Certified Professional Resume Writer ● Career Coach ● Executive Resume Writer ● MBA, BEng, CPRW, CPCC
The job market is as competitive as ever as we are nearing the end of this year. Your resume is the first opportunity you have to make a lasting impression on potential employers and hiring managers. As recruiters scan more than hundreds of resumes per job posting, it is quite a challenge to stand out from the crowd with yours.
As certified professional resume writers, we meet job seekers who struggle to make their resumes stand out every day. Therefore, we thought that we could discuss a few key strategies that can elevate your resume and make it shine for your job applications:
Start with a strong professional summary to make your resume stand out
Gone are the days when you could write a simple objective statement for your resume and call it quits. Today, resume objectives are considered obsolete, and hiring managers are always looking for a concise resume summary that wraps up the best points about your career. Think of your resume summary statement as your elevator pitch. Highlight a few of your top skills, experiences, and achievements related to the job that you are targeting. More importantly, remember to use keywords from the job description.
Optimize for the applicant tracking systems
If you want your resume to stand out, you must ensure that the document is optimized for applicant tracking systems. Most employers in the US use applicant tracking systems to screen resumes before they reach human eyes. If your resume is not optimized for the bots, it could get rejected and never be seen by a hiring manager. Although some companies scan all of the resumes that they receive, most mid and large-scale employers do not have the resources to do so. So, how can you ensure that your resume is optimized for the ATS?
Make your resume stand out by highlighting relevant skills and accomplishments
Laundry lists of job duties no longer impress hiring managers. If you want your resume to stand out, you must ensure that your work experience section highlights the best of your accomplishments through concise bullet points. Focus on quantifiable achievements that demonstrate how you apply your skill set in real-world situations to contribute to the success of your employers. It is even better if you can use numbers, metrics, and percentages to provide concrete evidence of your abilities. When you're writing the work experience section of your resume, ensure that the bullet points cover both your soft and hard skills. Also, pay attention to the priority order set by the employer within the job description. The most important skills and experiences must go first under each job entry. You can describe older jobs with just three bullet points and newer jobs with up to six bullet points.
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Optimize your resume with keywords from the job description to stand out
The easiest way to ensure that your resume resonates with the ATS is to incorporate keywords from the job description. As the first step, read and review your job description. You can highlight the necessary keywords. Then take a good look at your current resume. Can you rephrase things using the employer’s keywords? If so, it is time to do some rewriting. You should mirror the language in the job posting to highlight that you are a good fit for the role. We also encourage using similar terms when describing your skills and experiences. This ensures that you cover more ground with the ATS.
Tailor your resume for each job application
The best way to make sure that your resume stands out to employers is to submit a tailored resume with all your job applications. That means, editing and rewriting your resume for each job that you apply for. Once you create a master resume template, tailoring your resume to a job description becomes much easier. You can pick and choose which sections or elements you want to be displayed on your final resume. Then all you have to do is rephrase or rewrite your experiences and skills to include the keywords from the job description.
Showcase your career progression
Most resumes that stand out display how the job seeker has advanced in their career through the years. Employers and hiring managers love to see how you have grown in your career from where you have started. Therefore, when creating the work experience section of your resume, pay attention to your career progression. Use your chronological work history to highlight how you have grown and scaled up through the years. You can do this by paying attention to your promotions, extra responsibilities, achievements, and transitions between industries. In instances where you have had a nontraditional career path or multiple career gaps, don't shy away from addressing them. Employers and hiring managers are sympathetic towards resume gaps as long as you provide sufficient explanations for them.
Tailor your skills section
One of the best places to incorporate a lot of keywords into your resume is through the key competencies section. Each time you submit a new resume for a job application you must, tailor the key skills section as well. Having a dedicated key skills section in your resume would help you grab the hiring manager's attention through carefully placed keywords. A skills section also gives you a resume with a clear and organized appearance. Ensure that your key skills section includes a good mix of technical hard and soft skills. If you're transitioning between industries, don't forget to emphasize your transferable skills on your resume.