Seven Ways to Revamp Your Resume for a Job Hunt
Olivia Attwood
Certified Professional Resume Writer ● Career Coach ● Executive Resume Writer ● MBA, BEng, CPRW, CPCC
If you are in the middle of a job hunt, you need a strong resume to make a great case for you during job applications. A well-written resume will assist you to get noticed by more employers. It is important to update your resume each time you apply for a job.
If you haven’t searched for a job in a few years, your resume is likely to be outdated. An outdated resume cannot get you the kind of results you want in the job market. That’s why we thought of discussing how you can revamp your resume for a job hunt today:
Update your contact information
Contact information gets outdated quickly. This is why you should always take a look at the contact information section of your resume before sending it out. Ensure that you mention updated mobile numbers and emails on your resume. Also, check whether the links that direct employers to your LinkedIn, social media, or portfolio are functioning properly.
Tailor your resume to the job
You should customize your resume for each job application so that you have a better chance of getting noticed by potential employers. Use keywords from the job description to describe your skills, experiences, and qualifications on the new resume. Replace unnecessary information with crucial details. Also, ensure that your resume mentions the most relevant and most recent qualifications.
Highlight relevant skills and achievements
If you are rewriting your resume for a particular job, the skills and experiences you mention in the document must align with the employer’s job description. You can review your resume and omit any skills or experiences that aren’t directly related to the new job. Then, you can fill the blank spaces with skills and achievements that are actually important for the role.
Update your resume format
Always go for a well-organized and clean resume format that is easy to read. Your job is to make it easy for the hiring manager to spot important information on your resume. If the resume format you have chosen is busy and distracting, they may not be able to see important details on the document.
Incorporate action verbs into your resume
Strong action verbs make your resume an interesting read. Did you know that starting each bullet point of your work experience section with an action verb helps you maintain the reader’s curiosity? Action verbs give your resume a positive spin. Action verbs are sometimes important keywords that potential employers look for on a resume.
Remove unnecessary information
If your resume hasn’t been refreshed in a few years, there will be a lot of outdated information on it. These can be things like irrelevant work experiences, obsolete skills, unnecessary personal information, etc. Review your resume for relevance and remove anything that doesn’t align with the job description.
Proofread and fix mistakes
The first step to creating a polished resume is to proofread the document multiple times once you are done with it. Even the most experienced professionals make a few mistakes when they create a resume. Your resume will have grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and formatting mistakes. You can correct them to present a better resume to potential employers.