Your resume is your golden ticket to landing the job you want. Fortunately, it takes a lot more than luck to earn this ticket. The strength of your resume is completely up to you. If you are gearing up for another job hunt, then incorporate these resume writing tips to present yourself to employers in the best manner possible.
Take Your Time Writing the perfect resume takes time. If you rush through the task, you will only end up hurting your chances of success. Give yourself plenty of time to choose your phrasing and proofread your work.
Not all of your experience will be applicable to each position you apply to, so it is important to alter your resume with each new job application. To save a bit of time, you can keep a master document of all your work experience. That way, you can easily copy and paste the relevant information into each version of your resume.
Get the Look In the realm of resumes, looks do matter. Most hiring managers decide whether or not they will continue reading a resume in a matter of seconds. One easy way to make sure your resume makes the cut is to use an online resume creation tool, like MyPerfectResume’s Resume Builder, which allows you to choose from a huge amount of pre-designed professional layouts. Good templates not only help you achieve a professional aesthetic, but they also show you how to place the most impressive information where it will be seen at first glance.
Structure Based on Objective One of the most difficult parts of writing a resume is deciding the order in which you should place your sections and how long each one should be. In the majority of cases, your work experience should appear in reverse chronological order. Aside from this guideline, the optimal placement and length of each section depends on your experience level and professional goals. Some example situations include:
Recent graduate without much experience: Substantial education section followed by professional experience and skills sections
Continuing career in same field: Professional experience section followed by brief education section
Changing careers: Focus on your areas of expertise and transferrable skills relevant to your new industry
Quantities and Qualities It is important to highlight specific accomplishments at your previous positions, but simply explaining these accomplishments is not enough. To really stand out, specify exactly what you accomplished by attaching numbers whenever possible. For example, instead of saying, “Drastically improved department sales numbers” say, “Increased department sales by 30 percent per quarter.”
Furthermore, it is not enough to claim that you have strong qualities. You have to demonstrate them. For example, you cannot simply say that you are a strong leader. Instead, illustrate your leadership skills by offering information such as, “Managed most profitable sales team in company for three consecutive years.”
Cut the Clichés When you feel overwhelmed with a writing task, it is easy to fall into the trap of using clichéd words or phrases. This is an especially damaging mistake in resume writing because it indicates to employers that you could not be bothered to think more originally. If you find yourself including certain language reflexively rather than intentionally, force yourself to revise your work using stronger word choices.
Be Accessible Even the best resume writing tips will do you no good if your employers cannot reach you. Be sure to place contact information at the top of your document. The most important details to include are:
Your full name, including any professional suffixes (MD, RN, PhD, etc.)
Your professional email address. If you don’t have a professional email address, then create one to use for your job search. The cleverly named account you opened in high school is not going to cut it.
Your phone number. If you include more than one number, be sure to designate which one is which—for example, mobile number and home number.
Your city and state. You do not have to include your full home address.
Make Yourself Shine Most companies want to hire only the best. By following these resume writing tips on every job application, you can demonstrate that the best person is you. Are you ready to move forward with your career? Settle in and start writing.
