Stand Out with a Professional Resume

You are busily applying for every available job on the market. Getting laid off and having to pay your bills may have made your attempts desperate and not thought out completely. Just apply and something has to stick, right? Not right.

Believe me, recruiters will notice. This is why: Your resume doesn’t match the job requirements therefore it would be a waste of the recruiter’s time to read it. They have hundreds of resumes to go through and weeding out the “no-goes” is the first step. You will be one of the resumes that get the “no thank you” email. So, do yourself a favor and put the energy you are wasting on applying EVERYWHERE to focusing on updating your resume and pitching it to companies that could use your expertise.

Hook The Recruiter (I know how. I used to be one!)

Tighten your resume to a maximum of 2 pages even if you have 30 years of experience and 13 jobs to prove it.

The first paragraph should summarize your key skills and what type of work you excel at. This could change depending on the role you are applying for. Do NOT submit a resume for an administrative role and list that you are interested in a sales position. Highlight any key elements or skills you possess that are listed on the job post. Zero in on those and give brief detail.

Keep the “job duties” under your previous roles to a minimum. Only mention those that made you most valuable. A long description will only cause the recruiter to browse through and not really “read” your text.

Don’t Look Like A Job Hopper If You Can Help It.

Recruiters will review your tenure as a sign of reliability and commitment. If you are moving from jobs consistently you will not come across as dependable or someone the company would want to invest their time in training. Include reasons for moving on to another position (contract, temporary, lay off, summer job, etc). If your job tenure is short and you have a legit reason, LIST IT. Remember recruiters are not mind readers.

Show Your Shine

Listing your degrees is obvious but what many don’t realize is even listing unfinished college degree credits is advisable. There may be a reason you didn’t complete the term which can be explained in your cover letter (That will be another post on its own) 🙂

When I say “degree” I mean ANY degree. I spent fifteen minutes explaining to my eldest why including his 1st Degree Taekwondo Black Belt was NECESSARY. Hello….it shows discipline, commitment, and tenacity.

I also advise you to include a list of skills and specific competencies that relate to the role you are seeking. These will jump out at the recruiter and can make a big impact rather than reading straight text. (There is nothing wrong with using a resume template to help you format!)

Finally, and believe me, when I tell you this is not always obvious, MAKE SURE YOU USE COMPLETE SENTENCES AND CORRECT SPELLING. I had a resume where the candidate listed “proofreading” as a skill and it was spelled wrong. Remember you are marketing yourself here, people!

Need help with your resume? Contact me!

~ Mirla