One of the most important things that go into getting a job is your resume. Your resume needs to show off a number of different things to illustrate to a hiring manager that you can do the job. The importance of a resume cannot be overstated.
Source: themogulmom.com
However, sometimes simply listing your skills and experience isn’t enough. There are some crucial resume updates that you should be making in order to give yourself the best chance of success.
Whether you are a single mother, a parent juggling your job search with childcare or a student fresh from university, these resume updates can help you out. Without any further ado, let’s look at a few resume updates that will help you land that job.
Change Up the Format with a Template
One thing that could potentially be holding your resume back without you even knowing is your template. There exist hundreds of different resume templates out there, and each may be the best choice in a certain situation. Take time to look and see if your resume is as optimized as it could be.
Unfortunately, completely reformatting your resume or making up a template by scratch isn’t always easy. This is especially true if you are a busy mom or someone who is not that technically savvy. Thankfully, there is a solution. If you visit ResumeBuild, you will find a resume maker resource that can help you choose and discover a new format for your resume with ease. It can also help you out with great examples of how to best design your resume.
Keep the Most Impressive Things Above the Fold
When looking at a resume, either physical or digital, people’s eyes start at the top of the page or screen. As a result, you should keep your most impressive feats and skills above the fold. This essentially means keep it high enough on the resume that people don’t need to scroll down or turn a flipped page to see it.
The global attention span appears to be shrinking, so if you can’t wow the hiring manager with the initial part of your resume, they are likely to look elsewhere. Keep this in mind when deciding how to organize the info on your resume.
Shorten it Up
How to shorten your resume
As mentioned before, people have less patience than ever before. Many hiring managers simply don’t have the patience to read through a resume that is three, four or five pages long. If you want to give your resume the best chance of being seen and fully-read, consider keeping it short.
Generally, one page for a resume is recommended, with two being the maximum in many cases. If you are struggling to shrink your resume, be sure to look online as there are several great examples of professional one-page resumes. Or, perhaps you can also submit a CV, which is a more detailed and thorough look at your education, experience, and skills.
Provide Numbers and Data if Possible
While it is great to list off your skills and experience, many hiring managers want to see a little more. In particular, many of them want to learn exactly how you were able to help your last company succeed. Any time you include a general skill or type of experience, try to provide some type of data or numbers to back it up.
For example, instead of saying that you “helped train new staff”, you could say that you “educated and mentored hundreds of new staff members through a training course that I created”. Anything that can give more detail to your claims or skills will be a welcomed addition to your resume.
Use Important Keywords in Your Resume
In any job description or posting, you will likely notice several different keywords that appear quite frequently. Instead of simply seeing these and moving on, consider adding them to your resume. Of course, you shouldn’t overdo it, but a few select keywords here and there can help signal to the hiring manager that you can be what they are looking for.
In addition to helping you target your resume to a specific job, it can also help your resume get noticed. Many companies use applicant tracking systems that automatically sift through resumes based on their content. So if you include some of the keywords in your resume, there is a good chance it will get noticed by the system.
Use White Space Successfully
When creating a resume, white space is your friend. It can help break up sections, as well as make it easier to skim. Most people read resumes a few seconds at a time, so if it is a wall of text, it will be much harder to get through.
This helps to keep your resume simple and elegant, as well as very easy to read. Trying to fit too much information on one page can make a resume look cluttered and overloaded with information.
In conclusion, keep in mind the advice given here and be sure that the resume updates you decide to implement will be able to help you land that job.