The Top 7 Resume Tips You Need To Know for 2024 [Updated]

Hello job seekers! We've all seen the headlines. While certain sectors of the economy might not be pretty, there are still many jobs out there and - in today's fast-paced and competitive job market - having a well-crafted resume can make all the difference when it comes to landing your dream job.

With so many resumes flooding recruiters' (and hiring managers') inboxes, how do you make sure that your resume stands out from the rest? Fear not, because in this article, we've got you covered with the top seven resume tips for 2024. Whether you're a recent graduate or a seasoned professional, these tips will help you highlight your skills and accomplishments in a way that catches the attention of potential employers.

So let's dive in and get started on crafting a winning resume that will help you land your dream job in 2024!

Let's Begin...

Resume writing is a highly specific endeavor. Not only is the content personal, there might be industry-specific and/or geographic-specific customs or lingo that come into play.

On top of that, resume writing is mostly art - not a science. Meaning, there is likely more than one "correct" way to write any part of a resume. What works for some recruiters and/or hiring managers might not work for others.

So, I advise everyone two things: (1) Take what I have to say with a grain of salt. There is no silver bullet. (2) There is no crime in having a few different versions of your resume floating around. Don't go crazy (and try to keep one "main" one) but you can certainly tailor your resume as needed.

I will endeavor here to provide resume tips and tricks that pertain to as wide a population as I can.

#1 - The Big Picture: What's the Point of a Resume?

Your resume is your key to get that first interview. That's it. Nothing else.

As such, your resume needs to tell a story and that story's end is you getting a call from a recruiter (or hiring manager). Your resume should be geared towards that goal and that goal only.

Sure, as you go down the process, interviewers will likely review your resume and even bring it to your interview. However, the decision to interview you has already been made; you're in! The rest of the process is now up to you and your interviewing skills.

#2 - Make Your Resume Searchable!

Remember that any given recruiter (or hiring manager) will get hundreds - if not more - applications to one job. It is unlikely they will be going through each resume one by one to find you. Rather they will likely search for it in their Applicant Tracking System (ATS) database that use algorithms to parse, index, and store resumes. As such, your resume has to be optimized to maximize your chances of popping up in a search. Here are some tips:

• No Headers: They can sometimes be excluded by ATS parsing and indexing algorithms.
• Keywords: You can have a section at the bottom where you list your hard skills and/or you can work them into your bullet points under each job. Remember to optimize possible keywords and think about how a recruiter (or hiring manager) might search for something.
• Optimize Job Titles: Let's face it, some companies have weird job titles that will not reflect well in the outside world. For your resume, you should choose job titles that most recruiters (and hiring managers) would search for (with an eye for the job you want!).
• Location, Location, Location: If you are applying for a role that is based elsewhere, change your location to the target area. Otherwise, you will have very little chance of getting your resume seen (more on this below).
• Be Weary of Flashy Resume Templates: While standing out is generally a good thing, many flashy templates will run afoul of ATS parsing and indexing algorithms.

The Meat & Potatoes of a Resume

Now that we've covered what a resume should be doing and how to optimize it for search, let's explore the best ways to format your resume so that recruiters (and hiring managers) can quickly see if you are a fit.

It takes about 10 seconds for a seasoned recruiter (or hiring manager) to review your resume and determine whether or not to give you a call. You need to give them every reason to quickly see and digest your story: why you do what you do, how you do it, and what you can do that's pertinent to the role.

#3 - Optimize Your Name and Contact Info

• Name: Make sure your name is prominently featured, on its own line, and in slightly bigger font.
• Location: Don't put your address on your resume but you should certainly put down the general target location. However, think strategically about your location! For instance, if you live in Palo Alto but are applying for San Francisco positions, I would recommend you put down "San Francisco Bay Area." If you are applying for positions in Palo Alto (or somewhere close) then I would recommend you be more specific and put down "Palo Alto."
• Phone: Make sure your phone number is on your resume!
• Links: Both your email, LinkedIn profile, and/or any other profiles (like GitHub) should be linked properly in your resume. Test it out!

#4 - Clearly Delineate Section Headers

Make sure each section header is easily identifiable. The typical headers may include "Work Experience," "Education," "Skills" etc. I think inserting a horizontal line in between each section and making each section header a bit of a bigger font size should do the trick.

#5 - Update Your Introduction

I used to advise candidates to nix this section altogether because they all contained the same boring "I am a highly motivated, quick learner, blah blah blah..."

However, I thought that you could make good use of this section if you explained why you do what you do. Why are you in this line of work? Why do you get up every morning and do your job? What do you believe in? (To help develop this, watch Simon Sinek's TED Talk - it changed my life!)

Start your resume off with your personal mission statement and take another 1-2 short, pithy sentences to state how you broadly accomplish your mission. For example, here is mine:

Great organizations start with great talent. [←This is my "why" statement.] Driven by positivity, passion, process, candidate experience, and results, my career has revolved around finding that great talent and developing the process to find it faster and more efficiently. [←This is my "how" statement.]

#6 - Make it Easy to Read the "Main Sections"

This is the core of your resume and explains the details of what you have done.

• Bullet Points: No one has time to read bulky paragraphs. Bullet points will draw the eye to bite-sized snippets of information. Keep these to one or two sentences.
• Company Blurb: Especially if you work at a start-up (but even if you are at a big company), include a short blurb under your company/title in the experience sections.
• Highlight Achievements: Don't just list your job duties (boring!). Instead, mention your accomplishments and how you made a difference in your previous roles. Back up statements with facts, figures, and/or KPIs (whether quantitative or qualitative).
• Use Action Words: Use stronger words like "owned," "created," or "implemented" and stay away from words like "assisted," "helped," and "supported" (which indicate you were not the one fully responsible for that task).
• Consistent Formatting: Make it easy for recruiters (and hiring managers) to quickly see your job titles, companies, and dates. As such, make use of bold, underline, italics, and/or spacing to make these things pop and easy to quickly digest.
• Reverse Chronological Order: List your job experiences from most recent to less recent. You want your most recent experience to be the first thing that is seen.
• Emphasize The Recent: You should probably spend 7-10 bullet points on your most recent experience and trickle down as you go further back in your resume.
• Deemphasize The Past: At some point you might want to consider taking anything off your resume that is from so long ago - especially if it does not help with your "story." For instance, if you had a prior career, I would delete it from your resume and insert a one-liner that explains you had a prior career.
• Create a Separate Section for Concurrent Experiences: If you have a consulting side hustle or like to volunteer - these could be great things to include on your resume. However, make sure you create a separate section complete with it's own header (e.g. "Additional Work Experience" or "Volunteer Work") that will separate it from your main work experience section. Otherwise, it might be confusing to follow the dates.
• Education on the Bottom: Unless you are a recent grad, your education needs to migrate to the bottom of your resume in order to emphasize your experience.

#7 - Some Obvious Items

Yep, a lot of these are obvious but worth stating:

• Truthfulness: Do not lie, make up facts and figures and/or dates and timelines.
• No Typos: Nothing is a bigger turnoff than a misspelling or a glaring grammatical error.
• Under Three Pages: A resume should never be longer than three pages. Ever. Most will be between 1-2 pages and that's OK for more seasoned professionals.
• PDF It! Yup, send out only a PDF version that can't be edited. Make sure to use a PDF converter that will keep the integrity of the formatting and it's searchability. (Hint: Saving a Google Doc as a PDF works great!)

Wrapping It All Up

While this is not an exhaustive list of everything that needs to happen in a resume, I hope that these seven tips will help you reformat your resume in a way to maximize results.