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- Resources “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” –Benjamin Franklin Everyone should have an updated resume when they are in the market for a new position, and making sure you have everything organized the right way can be a challenge. According to The Ladders, recruiters only take an average of six seconds to scan a resume to determine whether or not a candidate might be a fit for a particular organization. To maximize your chances of grabbing the recruiter’s attention in those six seconds, you’ve got to be sure that your resume is laid out in a clear and concise way. Here are a few tips straight from a recruiter that will help you organize your resume to draw attention and get you the interview. This may seem obvious, but make sure you include all necessary information for someone to get in contact with you and, if appropriate, view your work portfolio or samples. Start with the basics and make sure your full name, phone number, and email address are up-to-date. You should also include URLs for your LinkedIn profile and your online work portfolio, your Twitter handle, and contact information for any other relevant social media platforms. You should present your contact information with your most-often used or preferred method first, and provide work samples and/or your portfolio information last. When it comes to your work experience, you should always have your most recent experience employment listed first. For each position you’ve held, you need to include your job title and the dates you were employed, and following that you should include other relevant information such as your responsibilities within the positions and any achievements or recognitions you earned while there. Consistent formatting for each position is crucial for readability. Recruiters and hiring managers may be concerned if there are significant gaps in your work experience, but make sure to be open about them or it may seem like you have something to hide. That’s the last thing you want a potential employer thinking. It’s great to take pride in your alma mater, but it isn’t a good strategy to have that front and center on your resume unless you just graduated and have no work experience. After your first job out of school, your skills and experience take priority over education information on your resume. It doesn’t matter if you got straight A’s in school if you can’t demonstrate the relevant skill set and experience for a particular position. It’s a good idea to present your skills in a table or column format for readability: don’t make the hiring manager hunt for the important stuff! You can also place emphasis on certain skills or keywords by using a bold font. Be careful not to overdo this, though: a little goes a long way. Remember to list only the skills relevant to the job you are applying for and make sure those skills are supported throughout your resume. While resumes don’t need to be limited to one page anymore, it is still best to keep it short and sweet: two pages is ideal, or one page if you are still early on in your career. Give enough details about each role you’ve held to give a solid overview of your experience, and try not to condense it so much that you neglect to include important information about what you have done and achieved. Keep the basics in mind, too, and make sure your font is professional-looking and not smaller than a 10-point to 11-point size. Keep the above points in mind when you compose your resume, but also take some license to make it stand out. For the positions with lots of qualified candidates, hiring managers may look through dozens of resumes at a time. You may want to put specific words or phrases in bold type, add a header, and perhaps use a small amount of color. If you work in a creative field, you have more freedom to add artistic elements and be less conventional. Finally, remember to include a well-written, personalized cover letter. These tips can help your resume stand out from a stack of similar applicants and catch the eye of a recruiter or hiring manager in your chosen field. Are there any elements you’ve added to your resume that have been helpful in landing that dream job? If so, share with us in the comments below. We’d love to learn from you! Is your resume well-organized and eye-catching? Great! Why not take it to the next level and make it specific? Check out our post on Five Resume Rules That Get You the Interview! Mark has held leadership roles in multibillion-dollar organizations and has bought, sold and started companies. He is an entrepreneur at heart and in action. He and his companies have been recognized by organizations like Inc. Magazine, Business First and the American Marketing Association. Mark also loves competition. He has won a National Championship and earned a World Championship Silver Medal in Sports Jujitsu, a mixed martial arts-based competition. Mark is also an inductee in the American Sports Jujitsu League Hall of Fame. Mark founded TeamBuilder Search in 2008 and loves helping clients succeed by out-recruiting the competition. Filed Under: Building Your Career Tagged With: Job Hunting, Resume As someone who is actively searching right now, I can add a few tips I picked up. 1. If you are a seasoned professional, avoid older positions you had when starting off your career that might not be relevant to the role you are seeking. Avoid dates on when you graduated as well. 2. I read an article that said to not list your address, just the town where you live. It’s too easy to look up a house on Zillow and see how “well off” someone might be. Just a thought, not necessary. 3. Avoid common jargon like “led a project that…” OK, everyone going for that role has probable led projects. Start with “Impacted sales by xx% by implementing etc. through a 6 month project where I….” What did you do, what was the outcome and result. 4. Look at the JD you are applying for, pick up some of the keywords and make sure they are in your resume, which helps scanning software and recruiters. Replace the title in your resume with the JD title too. Also, I just read that the newest MS Word will have a resume writer feature that also scans job listings to help determine if your resume stands out. It’s not out yet so there aren’t any reviews on it. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
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