Resume Tips to Land Your Dream Job

In today’s abbreviated attention span world, drafting a high-quality resume for a job search may seem like a lower priority. After all, companies are now even recruiting candidates via text. While your resume may not be the key piece that gets you a new job, it can be the sole reason you aren’t even able to secure an interview. Below are some resume tips to help you create a resume that stands out.

While technology has altered the process, traditional HR still leads the way. The little things about your resume – font size, resume structure, glaring omissions, lack of achievements – still matter.

Resume Tips and Tricks

• Easy to Absorb – You want to make sure anyone looking at your resume can read it without strain. The font size and style should be simple and large enough that the pertinent information is easy for the reviewer to understand.
• Attention to Detail – Typos hurt. You can’t have a resume with blatant misspellings. Take your time to review before you send.
• Too Much Detail – A common mistake candidates make is writing their resume as if it were a job description. You don’t need to include every detail about your previous job responsibilities. And stay away from using acronyms or abbreviations that don’t translate outside a specific industry.
• Simplify – Popular magazines and newspapers are written at a 9th or 10th grade level. Your resume should be even easier to understand – a 5th grader is perfect. Too many technical details in a resume won’t make sense to someone without specific industry expertise.
• Solve Problems – Employers are looking to hire a person who can achieve goals and solve problems to improve the outcomes for their company. Your resume should include examples of how you’ve succeeded in reaching those goals in prior roles. Quantifiable results – increased sales 50% or reduced turnover 20%, for example – are especially noteworthy.
• Stay Professional – You never want to list anything that may be used to discriminate against you. Examples include your birthday, marriage information, country of origin, and so on. Good companies typically delete that information before interviewers see it, but you don’t want to put the responsibility on them.
• Streamline – Brevity matters. Your resume shouldn’t be more than two pages unless you have multiple advanced degrees or key publications that are critical to be considered for the job. You don’t want to omit any previous employers from your resume, but you also don’t need to include information about roles that are irrelevant to the jobs you’re currently seeking. List employers and provide brief descriptions, but elaborate only about select roles that are important for your future goals.

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Is it time to perfect your resume for an upcoming job search? Key Corporate Services can help. Contact us today to learn how we can improve your presentation.