It is common to constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve your resume. Here are some rules to follow to ensure your resume makes a lasting impression.
- Using reverse chronological formatting, as opposed to functional formatting, is most preferred by recruiters and hiring managers. This format allows for an easy understanding of your professional timeline.
- It is always useful to adequately present your skills and abilities. Still, this alone does nothing to clarify your career pathways, which may make attaining a coveted position more difficult. Prioritizing skills and abilities is recommended for those who have gaps in their employment history as a way to conceal the voids. If you want to improve your resume, try to sell yourself while also making your career path understandable
- Include numbers, figures, and percentages in your resume where it is necessary. This gives the impression that you are well-researched and detail-oriented, an attractive quality to future employers. However, it is important to make sure that your resume isn’t only filled with numbers. This will make it dull and undigestable, which may irritate the recruiter.
- Keywords are an essential component of a well-written resume. If you do not know which words to use as keywords for your resume, make a word cloud from the description of the job you have targeted. These keywords will make your resume more visible to recruiters.
- After choosing your keywords, it is now time to proofread. This is an incredibly important part of the process. Imagine what would happen if your resume is full of errors (vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, or other errors) and was then read by the recruiter or the hiring manager. You wouldn’t stand a chance! He or she would assume that you did not take care to check your resume, or perhaps that you just simply do not know how to write! To avoid all of this, have your resume proofread by someone you trust. This will expand your awareness of more ideas and improvements to make.
- The next thing to prioritize is your achievements. Sprinkle your accomplishments all over your resume to better sell yourself. The person reading your resume is not at all interested in learning about your different job duties and responsibilities. Instead, highlight what you have accomplished in every one of your previous jobs and positions.
- As mentioned, refrain from including the words “responsible for” in your resume. Employers can already deduce most of the responsibilities that come with a particular job. They want to know about the outcome of your task performance, not just merely what you were performing. Keep this in mind.
- It would be best if you kept brevity in mind while crafting your resume—Declutter what you have written by removing unnecessary details. Your resume should be qualitative rather than being full of flowery language. Add each accomplishment and achievement to your resume while keeping them concise.
- Adding only relevant information is especially important to ensure your resume is easily digestible. It is not necessary to mention every job you have ever done in your life. Many of your previous jobs may not be relevant to the one you are looking for now, even though they were a part of your journey. Keep your resume relevant and relatable, as it should serve as a promotional document.
- Do not feel that you must keep your resume objective. Try to begin your writing first with the summary, as this is a successful and modern approach to creating a professional resume.
- While writing your resume, you must consider exactly what it is your audience wants from you. Your resume should contain everything wanted and needed by the organization you plan to join. It would be best if you had an idea of some of the problems facing the firm. This way, you can touch upon applicable solutions that you will bring to these concerns.
- Try to customize your resume according to the requirements of the organization, wherever possible. Prompt employers to acknowledge that you understand their struggles and that you hold the solution. This promotes your strengths and keeps your resume relevant and relatable to what the hiring company is looking for.