Land your dream job with these essential resume tips
Amelia Walker
Certified Professional Resume Writer ● Career Coach ● Executive Resume Writer ● CPRW, CPCC
What is the best thing you can do to make a lasting first impression with recruiters? You can write a resume that stands out.
Creating a good resume is not a simple task. It will involve a lot of planning, organizing, and writing. If you don’t have a way with words, you may even want to consider hiring a professional resume writing service such as Resume Mansion to help you with creating a winning resume. However, if you are confident that you can DIY it, we have some amazing resume tips to make your job application memorable:
Tailor your resume to the job
Sending out the same resume for every job application is going to make your job search longer than it needs to be because you keep getting rejected by employers. However, if you send customized resumes to each job for which you apply, you will get to stand out among the others. So, keep in mind to always tailor your resume to the job description.
Highlight relevant experience
That hiring manager from the big finance firm definitely does not want to hear about your experience as a tour operator in Disneyland. They are busy and they want to see some relevant experience front and center on your resume. Give hiring managers what they want to see with your resume. Trim away the unrelated experiences or try to narrate them in a way that translates to the new industry.
Keep it short
A resume that stretches onto the fifth page is very likely to get your job application in the bin unless you work in academia. It is common for academic resumes to reach a fifth or sixth page. However, for almost every other situation, a short resume works best. Although there is no such thing as the one-page resume rule, you must always strive to keep your resume concise and to the point.
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Use action verbs
Do the bullet points of your resume seem a little bit too bland? That’s because they probably are. Why not spice things up by starting your bullet points with relevant action verbs? Action verbs make your resume an interesting read. They also act as important keywords for most job titles. Give your resume a dynamic feel with action verbs and descriptive adjectives.
Use the right format
Are you going traditional chronological or functional with your resume format? Or do you want to choose a combination format and enjoy the best of both worlds? You must always choose a resume format that aligns with your career history, skills, experiences, and career goals.
Add some numbers
Did you know that quantifying your achievements on your resume is one of the best ways to grab a hiring manager’s attention? Whether you increased sales for a past employer or decreased costs of operations for your current business, your resume must present that information using numerical data. Numbers never fail to impress hiring managers.
Pick a modern template
The most important thing is to choose an ATS-friendly format for your new resume. If you are creating your resume from scratch, you can use ATS-friendly sample resumes from the internet for inspo. Be sure to pick something that does not have graphics, tables, charts, images, icons, and other components that the ATS cannot parse.