How to Make Your Resume Stand Out
Olivia Attwood
Certified Professional Resume Writer ● Career Coach ● Executive Resume Writer ● MBA, BEng, CPRW, CPCC
The best way to stand out in a competitive job market is to write a resume that highlights your biggest selling points to hiring managers. However, if you write a basic resume that just summarizes your qualifications, you might have trouble staying in the minds of recruiters. Today, we are sharing some things you can do to ensure that your resume gets noticed by potential employers:
Showcase quantified achievements
Results-based resumes are the most successful type of resume in the modern job market. To write one, you must focus on the biggest achievements of your career when creating the work experience section of your resume. Include numbers, metrics, and percentages to quantify your results.
Leverage a good design
The visual appeal of your resume matters a lot. If you are using a busy, unorganized resume template, you may have trouble getting hiring managers to read it. Employers prefer to receive clean, organized, and modern resumes that are easy to read and navigate.
Highlight the right skills
Create a dedicated skills section so that hiring managers don’t have any difficulty in spotting what you bring to the table when they peruse your resume. Be sure to use bullet points to list down 10-15 relevant skills on your resume.
Add the right keywords
Job-specific keywords are an essential component of your resume. Whether you want to get noticed by the hiring manager or pass through the ATS unscathed, your resume must mention the most important industry-specific keywords. Use the job description for guidance when adding keywords to your resume.
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Optimize for the ATS
This is a crucial step when applying for a job in the digital age. Your resume is very likely to get passed through an ATS for initial screening. Ensuring that you use an ATS-friendly resume template and formatting techniques will ultimately decide the success of your job applications.
Include important links
Did you know that including links in your resume can help your job applications get noticed? Hiring managers like to check you out online. So, include the links that will take them to your LinkedIn profile, relevant social media, website, blog, or digital portfolio.
Use action verbs
Starting each bullet point on your resume with an action verb will help you make it an interesting read. Some action verbs are important job-specific keywords, so pay attention when selecting which ones to go on your resume. Create an impactful narrative of your accomplishments with the right action verbs.
Keep it concise
Don’t bore the hiring manager with long-winded paragraphs about your summer abroad during college or your volunteer work. Stick to the information that will make the biggest impact on the recruiter. Keep your descriptions concise and focused. Use bullet points instead of paragraphs.
Write a strong summary
Lastly, write a strong summary that encapsulates the best qualifications you have. Writing your resume summary statement after you have completed your whole resume will help you spot the most important pieces of information that must be highlighted.