Up Your Resume Game

Being a professional recruiter or head-hunter has allowed me to really understand the fundamentals of why people are either successful or not when looking for a new opportunity. Over the past 2 1/2 years I've seen hundreds if not thousands of resumes. Some dead awful, some pretty good and others absolutely bang on. Take the next few moments to read through what makes a truly great resume and helps you stand out amongst other applicants, regardless of your experience level.

Before we go further, it is equally important to share the knowledge that goes along with a great resume and not just the "good stuff." But if you feel the urge to do so, skip to the sub-heading Resume Rescue. Having an outstanding resume is commonly the first impression an employer, recruiter or friend referring you sees. It's therefore crucial that it best represents and highlights your talents.

Let's use this simple role playing exercise as an example. Your buddy John told you of an opening in his company and knows you might have an interest. John offers to forward along your resume to his manager and cut the process of applying through the dreaded job boards like indeed/ monster and human resources. But when John sees your resume he isn't WOWed, likely even turned off. He is putting his reputation and trust instilled by his manager to the test by forwarding someone he insists is good for the role. John is a nice guy and doesn't want to hurt your feelings so he says your resume has been forwarded and all the meanwhile is sitting in his inbox. Fortunately there is a solution, stop procrastinating and put a real effort into making your resume shine. Then John will happily stride into his bosses office and say "you need to meet this person!"

Linkedin

Linkedin is also a valuable tool when it comes to representing you but don't mistake it as a resume. After all you can't apply to a job via Linkedin or the job boards by attaching your Linkedin, not yet anyways. It is still great practice to update your Linkedin profile every 3-6 months because believe me, the first thing an internal Talent Acquisition professional or Manager will do is cross-reference your profile to see how you present and if the information is consistent.

Resume Rescue

Outlined below are the top 10 things you can do TODAY to update your resume to super stardom. Following these tips will double if not triple your chances of being contacted for a first round interview.

1) Consistency is key

Make sure you use no more than two fonts and letter sizes throughout your entire resume (excluding your name, make it bold and sized 18-22). Ensure fonts such as bold, italics and underlining are consistently used for Professional Experience, Organization, Job Title and date.

2) Contact Information

Believe it or not many people leave their contact information off their resume. Some people feel because they included it in the application hiring managers will have it. It's just not the case, some hiring managers may even feel annoyed they have to go looking for it and put your resume to the bottom of the pile. Trust me, it's much easier to include your home address, phone number and personal email (please keep it professional, no [email protected] unless you are an Auto Mechanic). Also make sure the contact information is kept current. If you have changed your telephone number make sure I have the current one, it only takes a few seconds to check.

3) Date(s) of Employment

Ensure the dates of your employment and education activities are included using month and year. Only including the year is misleading and shows you may have something to hide. For example, 2015-2016 can mean many things. were you there for 1 year, 1 1/2 years or 2. By being direct and listing Jan 2015 - June 2016 the viewer will know for certain you worked there for 1 1/2 years.

3) Education and Employment History

List in descending order starting with your most recent experience. Nothing is more annoying then looking at a resume where the first thing encountered under your name is work experience from 10 years ago. Managers want to see what you are doing today! Don't get me wrong, your background is certainly important but if applying for a job in landscaping and you did that 5 years ago, that doesn't show you are up to date with current trends and regulations and quite frankly doesn't help. The same goes for education, let them know when you graduated so they can understand what you have been doing in the time since.

4) Holes

The dreaded hole. What happened during the period of time you left ABC company and joined XYZ corporation. Unless you were fired with cause, include what you did to fill your time. Did you start a company and it failed, cool list it! Did you travel abroad after 5 years in sales or freelance, that's fine too. Leaving a gap in time, almost without exception, has a negative effect and the recruiter, talent acquisition or manager will need to address it. Be up front and save everyone some time.

5) Page Break

This is a simple one but quite effective. Use page breaks (also referred to as horizontal lines) to divide up sections of your resume. In the case a page is lost or misplaced, a page break has the added benefit of helping to identify if something is missing. It also looks much cleaner.

6) Spelling and Grammar

Seems pretty easy to understand. Spelling mistakes cause the reviewer to question your literacy, competency and attention to detail before getting to meet you in person. The fact your computer has a spell check feature only accentuates your lack of detail and illustrates you don't really care. Make sure spelling and grammer is put together to the best of your ability. See what I did there?

* Past and Present tense

When writing the profile summary and current work experience use present tense exclusively. For past experience it is acceptable to use either past or present tense but again keep is consistent. Either work however my personal preference is to use present tense throughout the entire resume. The choice is yours.

* Personal Pronouns

Try not to use me, I, their etc. This principle goes along with the aforementioned topic. It is best practice to limit personal pronouns whenever possible. In layman terms, show, don't tell.

7) # of pages

This is a common one we get often and should be debunked once and for all. It doesn't matter how long your resume is as long as the information is relevant and valuable. For example, you have 5 years experience and were promoted 3 times. I almost expect you to have 2-3 pages, if not more. There has been a considerable amount of experience gained and no one expects you to fit it into a single page. Include primary responsibilities, supervisory experience (including number of direct reports) and each title. Paint the picture of what happened in the reader's eye.

8) Measurable Content

Providing metrics is not only measurable but provides the reader the information required to understand the impact you have on an organization. Common examples include number of direct reports, annual savings as a result of an initiative, project value or assets under management. Furthermore, providing this information allows the reader to compare you against other candidate resumes and benchmark you against current employees.

9) Achievements and Accomplishments

Sales professional know this all to well. It is strongly recommended and in some cases mandatory to list your achievements under each organization. For example, if you earned rep of the month, presidents club or any other recognition of excellence be sure to include it. I also strongly recommend including percentage of sales to quota at a minimum on an annual basis, quarterly being preferred. Same goes for accomplishments. It is great to include duties but more valuable to highlight what you have accomplished.

10) Relevant Experience

If you worked as a sous-chef 10 years ago before entering the professional work force, drop it from your resume. Not only is that information not relevant to what you currently do but it takes up valuable space which you can utilize to include extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, achievements and well... you get the picture. As a rule of thumb if it doesn't help to you justify why I should hire you, get rid of it.

So there you have it, a hot list of actions you can take today to make your resume effective and personable. Recall that a resume is a direct reflection of you and should stand out amongst other applicants. Whether updating a current version or creating a new resume all together, follow this simple guide and you will greatly increase your chances of landing that interview. Wishing you all the best in 2019.