Use these tips to make sure your resume stands out to recruiters

Have you ever applied to a job and been disappointed with the lack of response or feedback? You may want to take a close look at your resume and think about how it could be improved. You only get one chance to make a first impression! We’ve compiled some tips that will help you stand out from other applicants:

1. Focus on the skills that you’re going to use in your first year, not the ones you obtained in college 10 years ago.

The first thing you need to do is identify the skills that are going to be most relevant for your role. If you’re applying for a position in marketing, then it might be more imporatant for you to highlight your knowledge of social media and content strategy than your ability to use Photoshop—even though both are skills that will make you a great candidate.

In some cases, there may not be a clear answer as to which skill is the most important one—but this can still help inform your resume strategy. For example, if two roles open up at different companies and they’re similar enough in terms of responsibilities, then maybe it would be good idea to focus on something else entirely (like how passionate and committed you are).

2. Don’t over-think your resume. Recruiters only want to see what’s relevant and the information they need to make a decision.

• Don’t over-think your resume. Recruiters only want to see what’s relevant and the information they need to make a decision.

Remember, you are not applying for the job of “employee” or even “HR specialist”—you are applying for a specific role at an organization. So, when listing previous work experience on your resume, make sure it is tailored to that role! If you have sales experience but aren't applying for a sales position, don't include it in your experience section (or at least not as prominently).

3. Use strong action words and statements, not paragraphs. A good resume will be aggressive and talk about accomplishments rather than just describing a job title.

Make sure to use strong action words and statements, not paragraphs. A good resume will be aggressive and talk about accomplishments rather than just describing a job title. For example, if you say "managed 50 employees", it sounds much better to say "led company's largest division in record growth". This makes your resume stand out from the crowd of applicants who have been using the same words over and over on every other resume they submitted.

Use verbs that paint a picture of what you actually did at each job. For example: Created new process for handling customer complaints that increased productivity by 35%. Don't use passive verbs such as assisted or guided or any other similar word when trying to explain how well you performed on your previous jobs. The recruiter wants to know exactly how talented and effective you are so get specific!

4. Never have a single line of white space anywhere on your resume without removing it immediately or filling it in with something that is relevant to your job search.

This is one of the most important tips to follow when creating your resume. There should never be any white space anywhere on your resume, even if it's just a single line.

If you have a gap between sections of text, remove it immediately. If there are gaps in between sentences or paragraphs, fill them in before submitting your resume to recruiters. You want to show that you're efficient and take care when writing anything—and that includes not leaving any wasted space on your resume!

If there are blank lines in between sections or paragraphs of text, remove those as well (or replace them with something relevant). All white space should either be filled up with something useful or removed from sight altogether; otherwise, recruiters might think that you didn't pay attention to detail when crafting an application for your dream position! Don't let this happen; just clean up all excess information so as not

to run afoul of recruiters' sensibilities by having too much empty space on any given page!"

5. Put the keywords at the top of the resume for your desired position and industry, but be careful not to stuff them everywhere or else you will sound robotic and incapable of thinking outside of the box.

When you are applying for a job, the recruiter will use keywords to find candidates. They’ll search for these keywords when looking at resumes and then sort through them based on what they need.

So if you want to make sure that your resume stands out, make sure that it uses the same keywords as the job description.

But don’t go overboard with it! Recruiters can spot a keyword stuffing pretty easily so don’t try to fudge your way into getting an interview by putting those words everywhere in a desperate attempt to get noticed!

6. The length of your resume should be based upon how many years you have been in your industry, how many companies you have worked for, how many projects you’ve worked on and how high up the ladder you were at each job. This should be no more than two pages maximum unless you are applying for an executive role where they expect a longer CV-style document that is closer to seven pages long.

If you have more than 10 years of experience, it is best to limit your resume to one page. If you have been in the workforce for fewer than 10 years, then two pages may be appropriate.

The length of your resume should also be based upon how many companies you worked for, how many projects you worked on and how high up the ladder you were at each job. This should be no more than two pages maximum unless you are applying for an executive role where they expect a longer CV-style document that is closer to seven pages long.

If there are multiple accomplishments at a single company (for example: “Implemented new processes across all departments to reduce turnaround time by 20%”), consider breaking these down into bullets or short sentences rather than listing them as one long paragraph with no line breaks; this will make the information easier to read and digest.

7. Make sure all of your contact information is clearly visible, up to date and professional (do not include fun pictures or nicknames).

• Make sure all of your contact information is clearly visible, up to date and professional (do not include fun pictures or nicknames).

As we mentioned above, recruiters are busy people. They don't have time to sift through a stack of resumes only to find that the contact information is illegible or outdated. This could be the difference between getting an interview or being passed over for another candidate with a more professional resume. If you don't want recruiters to pass over your resume without reading it in full, make sure your contact information (name, email address and phone number) are easy-to-read with no spelling errors or typos—plus make sure it's accurate!

If you choose to include a picture on your resume, keep it simple: no selfies please—you're applying for a job here not trying out for American Idol!

Conclusion

Overall, the best way to ensure that your resume stands out is by making sure it's easy to read and succinctly highlights what makes you an asset. While there's no one-size-fits-all resume, these tips should help make yours as effective as possible.