Getting hired can be a long process for many people.
If you want to ensure you get the job you want, you’ll need to have a strong resume! You want to showcase all of your skills, so employers can see how you’d be a benefit to their team.
However, making a good resume is much easier said than done. Having a checklist for perfect resume can make the task a lot easier. If you’re ready to learn all the best tips and tricks to land a job this year, make sure to keep reading! Everything you should know is in the article below.
1. Only Add Relevant Experience
When making a new resume, it can be tempting to add all of your experiences. While this fills out your resume more, it can become too cluttered and difficult to read. An employer might overlook the experiences you want them to see.
You may need to list your entire work experience on the job application, so it’s alright to leave it off your resume.
Your resume should only consist of what you want employers to notice the most! It’s best to limit your resume to a single page.
Since you don’t want to weigh down your resume with irrelevant experiences, you’ll need to think about what jobs, internships, and skills apply to the position that you’re applying for.
Use your resume to highlight your most relevant experiences!
Tailor Your Resume For the Job
You’ll want to tailor your resume for the job position. While this does take more time, it’s very worthwhile and will make you stand out. The best way to do this is to make sure your first listed experience is relevant to the position.
The first section of your resume will be the most eye-catching to the employer. You may need to rewrite your resume, so the most relevant experience is at the top. Arranging the sections, so your current job isn’t at the top is alright!
Many people feel that they need to list their experiences by the dates they worked there. However, arranging your resume by relevance will get you better results.
2. Research and Use Keywords
Next, you’ll need to know what keywords to include in your resume. Today, many employers use applicant tracking software (ATS), which filters through resumes to find the most qualified candidates. The more popular a position, the more likely the hiring team will use this software.
Look over the job description again- there should be a few words that stand out to you! Including keywords (sometimes called buzzwords) in your resume will help the software recommend your resume.
The keywords change depending on the job and what skills the employers want candidates to have.
It’s good to refresh yourself on the top keywords from time to time. Some possible keywords to watch out for include:
- Design
- Technical
- Research
- Sales
- Strategy
- Writing
- Networking
- Development
You’ll want to pay very close attention to the language that the job description uses. Writing your resume using the same tense can make the system select your resume. If the description says “budget management,” but you write “budget manager” in your resume, the software may not pick it up.
3. Use Professional Services
If you’re unsure of your resume or don’t know where to start, it never hurts to have professionals look over it for you! Using an online professional resume writing service is a great place to start.
A professional service will ask you for your experience, skills, training or certificates, education, and long-term goals. From there, the experts will draft a resume for you to consider. Many online places are much faster than going to an in-person professional, which is essential to get hired as soon as possible.
Overall, you should consider using an online resume-building service this year! Many people are happy with the results, and it’s a great place to start when you’re feeling stuck with your resume.
4. Add Your Interests
While many people feel that hobbies should stay off a resume, adding them can make you stand out a lot more! Of course, you’ll want to ensure the interests you include are very relevant to the job position first.
For example, if you’re applying for a marketing job, including interests that relate to marketing can help you stand out. Some hobbies and skills that benefit marketing include photography, social media management, blogging, design, and writing.
Including your interests will also show the employer that you’d be passionate about working for them!
5. Keep the Formatting Simple
You also don’t want to make a document with complicated formatting. You should use a basic font, such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. Your final resume should be easy to skim and read, so you want to use plenty of bullet points.
Overall, keeping plenty of white space on the page makes it more readable. Simplifying your resume can mean cutting out parts, using lists, and making short, to-the-point sentences.
6. Don’t Include a GPA
Were you taught to include your GPA in your resume?
Most employers don’t consider this an important factor when hiring. They want to see your relevant skills and experiences instead. You can save some space by leaving your GPA off the page.
However, if you graduated with honors, including that information is good. There are very few cases where you want to include your GPA. Leave it off if the employer isn’t looking for those who excelled in school.
7. Link to Your Online Work
If you already have a blog, website, or online portfolio, you can include that link in your resume! If an employer is interested in your work, they may check it out. You’ll have the edge over the competition if you include samples of your work and others don’t.
Plus, your link can also give more information on who you are to the employer. It’s worth noting that you should only include a link to your work if relevant to the job position.
Know How To Save Your Resume!
Lastly, you’ll want to save your resume correctly. That means saving it as a PDF to avoid formatting errors. It’s also essential that you give the file a professional name since the employers will see it. Usually, “(your first and last name)’s resume” is a good name for the document.
