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Quick guide to building a more attractive resume

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We go through many resumes a day and have found some common mistakes that people make when composing their resume.  By reorganizing and reworking your resume you could greatly increase your chances of getting an interview and eventually a job!  Here is a combined list of the common mistakes that you should considering correcting or re-working.

  1. Proof read! In a study preformed in 2013 on CareerBuilder, 58% of resumes had typos on them. This will make or break your chances of getting an interview.   When a recruiter sees a misspelled word, they will write off your perfectly organized resume.  On the flip side, if you have everything spelled right, you will look that much more professional.
  2. Organization: Organization can be tricky because every resume can be organized differently. There is no specific way that you should organize your resume, but you should be sure it is in reverse chronological order.  Your contact information should be very clear at the top of the resume and must be correct.
  3. Know when and how to use an objective statement: An objective statement can be a very important piece to add to a resume, but only when necessary.  If you took a break in your career to raise children or are moving to another state, an objective statement is very important.  It will answer the employer’s skeptical questions before they have time to ask them.
  4. Try to keep it to a page: The HR department of a specific company has hundreds of resumes to go through and might skip over a lengthy resume with filler words.  Be sure to use your resume to highlight your best accomplishments and skills.
  5. Create a LinkedIn or online profile: People are beginning to drop their address from their resume and adding these tools. This helps the employer to get a better idea of who the person is, what a great way to catch the recruiter’s attention!
  6. Make it relevant/use transferable skills: Keep your resume up to date and relevant as much as possible.  If you are just coming into the work force from college or changing your career path you might find it tough to ramp up your resume.  If this is you, a good tip is to take pervious jobs and use those skills to transfer them into the new job.
  7. Use numbers/figures: By what percentage did you accomplish your goals?  How many people did you impact with your work?  When recruiters are skimming a resume, figures or numbers stand out.  If you were successful in increasing sales, for example, be sure to say something like “increased sale of ____  by up to 50%”.
  8. Properly fill break in jobs: If there is a gap of a few months use years instead of months.  If you are job hopping, include an explanation as to what happened to lead to your leaving.  By including this information, you will proactively eliminate any questions involving the intermittent movement.
  9. Make in original/show your personality: When you are applying for jobs, standing out is the hardest thing. This is why you should be sure to use your personality to make your resume more “you” and therefore stand out to recruiters.
  10. Include key words: In a recent post from buzzfeed.com, “HR departments use applicant tracking systems that look for specific words on resumes such as “creativity” for an applicant in marketing, decreasing their applicant pool by 50%”.  This is another great reason to include words written in the job description within your resume.  When recruiters look through hundreds of resumes, they can’t take more than a few seconds on each one.  When you include key words, it allows you to stand out in a pool of 500+ resumes.

These are just a few ways to help boost your resume to look better for the recruiting team.  There is no for sure way to put together a resume because they are all different, but hopefully you will now be in the right direction! Good Luck!

Sources: https://www.themuse.com/advice/43-resume-tips-that-will-help-you-get-hired

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alisoncaporimo/resume-and-cover-letter-tricks?utm_term=.el9OmNAzV0

http://www.levo.com/articles/career-advice/5-things-recruiters-want-you-to-know-about-resumes

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140917045901-24454816-the-5-biggest-mistakes-i-see-on-resumes-and-how-to-correct-them?trk=mp-author-card

 

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