In today's job market, it is no secret that every job posting gets flooded with resumes. And it's no secret that almost every resume looks just like the one before it and after it. With online submissions and standardized looks, it is becoming increasing difficult to craft a resume that stands out.
Yet, if you have been using a
basic resume
, which you wrote using a "how-to" from the library (and that's a good way to go) and not getting any responses, it could be time to head back to the drawing board. While you are at the drawing board, keep my suggestions on tap.
1. Include a summary - Better yet, start your resume with concise summary of your work experience and how it will relate to making you a perfect fit for the
job opening at hand. If a hiring manager is only going to spend 30 seconds to a minute looking at your resume, take a cue from the pro's who write business plans and add your own executive summary to your resume.
2. Keep it simple - By simple I mean no weird fonts or formats that may help your resume stand out, but make it difficult to read and decipher. Your objective is to make reading your resume an interesting time for the hiring professional, not frustrating.
3. Lose the empty sayings - Everybody is a goal driven professional. Everybody is a dedicated team player with great people skills or just your friendly neighborhood, yet
hard working
people person, or is that Spiderman? Pull out the phrases and keywords from the job posting to determine the words and phrases you want and need to use.
4. In line with removing empty terms, quantify your accomplishments. Putting a number by your accomplishments is a powerful move. Even for the most mathematically challenged, seeing numbers clarifies and crystallizes the accomplishment.
5. Don't leave gaps to the hiring manager's imagination - For those with significant (or not significant) gaps, the stress of how to handle the gaps is very pressing. Some suggest waiting until the interview to explain work history gaps. Well, if left to the reader's imagination, you may not get that chance - to explain, that is. Bad news is not like fine, red wine; it does not age well. Fill in the gaps and you control what the hiring manager's reaction will be.
6. Lastly, just tear down and rewrite your resume from scratch - What did you just say? Yes, just redo your whole resume. If you have been on the job market for a while now and not getting any responses - head back to the drawing board. Don't just tweak here or change a phrase there; blow up your resume and start fresh. If you were using a chronological, then look at using a hybrid chromo/functional format. Instead of times roman 10pt., redo your resume in Arial 12pt and see how it looks. Or if you're looking for
sales job, reposition all your sales related jobs first, followed by everything else.
Resumes shouldn't be static. Like any tool, you must examine whether the tool is working properly or not. And you must not be afraid to make adjustments to make your resume stand out.
Courtesy: Articlesbase.com
