You’ve read tons of resume suggestions and you’ve probably seen many different pieces of advice such as; “DON’T ever write a resume objective,” or, “Clarify your end goal and objective,” or, “Don’t use color on a CV,” or, “Show your creativity on your resume with typography and use of color!”
We get it – you’re confused. The good news? In today’s market, there are a few things that you’ll always want to include on your resume to grab the attention of hiring managers and recruiters. Here are the tips you can count on:
The Basics: No Errors…Please!
It’s All in the Details
Simple mistakes have consequences and sometimes the smallest error can result in you not receiving an interview request. Be sure to triple-check your resume for common mistakes like:
- Past & Present Tense Usage
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Cohesiveness (bullet points, spacing & layout, etc.)
Be Specific With Your Dates of Employment
Are you hiding something? That’s what a hiring manager or recruiter may think if you’re too general with your employment dates or tenure with a company.
Here’s an example of what NOT to do:
Marketing Specialist 2014-2016
Instead, DO write:
Marketing Specialist August 2014 – December 2016
Ensure All Online Portfolios and Resumes are Up-To-Date
As you polish your resume, ensure you update it across every online platform you’re currently using or have used in the past (i.e. LinkedIn, Indeed, CareerBuilder, personal websites, and many more). A recruiter or hiring manager may utilize one of these platforms to cross-reference your experience, so you’ll want to confirm that what you’ve submitted matches their online search activities!
The Specifics: Provide Hard Evidence
Skip the Summary
You have a very limited amount of time to catch the attention of hiring managers and recruiters. Don’t waste your precious resume space or the reader’s time with fancy paragraphs. These professionals want to get to the nitty-gritty and meat of your resume ASAP. So, instead…
Place Your Technical/Hard Skills at the Top of Your Resume
Chances are that hiring managers and recruiters already have at least 3-5 hard skills in mind for the right candidate. If these skills aren’t easy to find on your resume, they may miss them and skip right over you – meaning you’ll have to kiss that great opportunity goodbye before you’ve even had a shot at landing it. Important skills to include at the top of your resume are:
- Your Experience with Specific Channels +Techniques
- Tools, Software Platforms, & Technology Experience
- Coding or Operating System Expertise
Utilize Impactful Action Verbs
It can be tempting to utilize enhanced wording to impress your future employer. But, the problem with this kind of language is that it doesn’t always speak to your accomplishments within a role. Ensure that what you’re resume points have the desired impact by utilizing action verbs like lead, redesigned, corresponded, implemented, etc. to illustrate what you do (or did) in each of your positions.
The Extras: What Makes You a Star Candidate?
Give the Reader a Reason To Hire You Instead of Your Peer
You may think that you’re the perfect person for the job. You’ve read the job description and you fit every piece of criteria they’ve said they’re looking for in a candidate. But, what if you’ve got a rival – one with a similar skills set and background? Landing the job will often come down to how well you highlight your results within a role. Instead of simply saying what you did in each of your positions, describe what you accomplished. Here’s a few great examples:
- Managed social media accounts and increased engagement on Twitter by 400%
- Increased Adwords campaign CTR by 25% while decreasing CPC by 50%
- Launched an email marketing campaign that resulted in 100 sales qualified leads within 7 days
Showcase Meaningful, Relevant Information About Yourself
Recruiters and hiring managers need to find candidates that fit their technical/hard skills criteria. But, in addition, they may also appreciate receiving a detail about you that could indicate how you would fit into their company culture. If you have a bit of space left on your resume, use it to point out a meaningful, relevant fact about yourself.
Stay away from non-relevant information like announcing that you’re an, “Avid coffee drinker,” but DO include something like, “Marketing coach and mentor for the BrandLab program.” These tiny details are what can set you apart from your peers and launch you into the next important stage of the hiring process.
Want more resume tips? We’ve got a bunch. Check out our other posts about resumes on the Celarity blog!
