5 Ways to Take Your Resume to the Next level
Looking for a new job or interested in spicing up your curriculum vitae (CV) aka resume? Well, there's one thing you don't want to neglect in the application process and that's making sure your resume stands out. It doesn't matter how much experience you have or which companies you've worked for. A poor resume will decrease your chances of securing that dream job. Applying these simple steps to your current CV will definitely make you look good and take you one step further to getting that call back. Speaking from my personal experience, once I took these actions I received an ample amount of compliments from potential employers. They expressed how my resume alone stood out amongst the competition.
1. Dress to Impress
Make your resume look good. It's 2018, let's turn that template up a notch! Imagine how many resumes an employer scans through in a day, especially for a position that’s high in demand - this is your chance to impress. Design platforms like Canva have pre-made templates that can help your resume shine. When choosing a font, readability is a priority. Stay away from fonts like Comic Sans and go for simple, clean and impressive types: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana. If you'd like to play it safe, go with Times New Roman.
2. Highlight Your Strengths
President of the chess club for 10 years? Congrats! Unless your applying for a position in chess, this information has little to no value on your resume. I know you were probably told about being an active college student makes you a great employee. True, but don't allow those college accolades like clubs and activities to overpower other relevant information like your internships or certifications. Make sure everything you highlight relates to the position you are applying for. If you are looking for a job in Nursing, avoid discussing your two-year stint in retail or waitressing. Get straight to the point, if the position requires XYZ -- show the reader that you know XYZ.
Example: "Launched XYZ within 3 months of employment boosting company sales X%"
3. Ditch the Passive Voice, Use Action Words
Your choice of words makes a huge difference. Believe it or not, passive voice is widely used on resumes and it's the easiest way to unintentionally downplay your accomplishments. Always use an active voice, it makes your writing more clear and concise.
For example, instead of "I was responsible for AMCO's digital strategy and worked on their social media." Try, "Curated AMCO's digital strategy and increased social media engagement by 30%."
Highlight specific accomplishments and avoid just listing tasks. Simply eliminate and replace phrases like "I was" with action words. Here are a few action words to use instead:
Achieved
Curated
Edited
Generated
Collected
Performed
4. Avoid Errors
Nothing is worse than having typos and grammatical errors get in the way of your writing. Reality check: the spell check feature in Microsoft Word won't catch all of your errors! Invest in user-friendly plug-ins like Grammarly and enlist a second pair of eyes (someone’s you trust) on your resume. One old-fashioned thing I like to do when looking for errors is printing a hard copy, reading everything aloud and correcting errors with a highlighter or red pen. This helps me dissect my writing line by line. Find an editing process that works for you and stick with it.
Try this: Re-read everything aloud starting with the last line first.
5. Get Feedback!
Never send out your resume without getting a second opinion, or third. Ask a trusted mentor, family member, or someone with a good editing eye to provide feedback. Once they do, read it over and over. Accept the critique, whether good or bad and use it to better your resume. This may make you nervous, but if you trust whoever is providing the feedback, they will have your best interest at heart and look forward to your success!
Your resume represents you when you are not in the room. Your resume gets you to the interview. You are the product, your resume a marketing tool. Sell yourself and let your confidence lead you. Make it count! Be thoughtful and thorough. Whether you're applying for a role in the medical field or in the creative industry, applying these actionable items will surely impress a hiring manager.