As a recruiter, I receive and review hundreds of resumes every week. Most of the individuals submitting these resumes are well educated and possess many years of great work experience that may be of huge benefit to one of the firm’s clients. However, getting relevant and useful information from a resume can be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. People cover up their excellent experience with long-drawn out paragraphs of explanation on their job duties, fail to identify their major accomplishments at each job or organize their job history in the most complicated fashion possible. A poorly designed resume will leave recruiters with a bad first impression, and may even play a role in you not moving forward in the selection process. If you want to ensure that your resume doesn’t leave you knocking repeatedly on the door of a recruiter without any real answer, then please read ahead for five simple, but commonly overlooked tips on designing a resume that will really “wow”.
Relevant Contact Information
Have all relevant contact information clearly listed at the top of your resume. We’ve had resumes come into our firm without an e-mail address or phone number listed on them. Make it easy on a recruiter or HR manager to contact you by carefully listing your telephone numbers as well as any e-mail addresses we can get a hold of you at. Ensure that any e-mail addresses you include are accounts that you check frequently and if you include work contact information, that you actually don’t mind being contacted at your current workplace regarding job opportunities.
Keep It Short
Keep your resume short – think 2-3 pages max. Recruiters don’t have half an hour to flip through a 10 page resume that lists every job you’ve ever had in great detail. It’s great that you want to show off your accomplishments in hopes of getting an interview, but this can be done effectively in a couple of pages. Tip #3 coaches you on how to accomplish this.
Boast & Back Accomplishments Up With Numbers
Listing your accomplishments, and being able to back these accomplishments up with quantifiable numbers jumps off the page when compared to resumes that simply list a bland job description, with vague statements. For example, “Coached and provided performance evaluations to five senior analysts” sounds much more impressive than “Responsible for employees within the department”. Make yourself stand out, and spell out your achievements for those people reading your resume. As a side note, when listing the positions you’ve held, do so in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position and working your way down. Don’t feel obligated to list positions from 20 years ago on your resume. If you’re invited in for an interview, you can discuss those positions then.
Keep Your Resume Focused On Professional Accomplishments
The format of your resume is more important than some people realize. Ideally you should have separated sections listing your work experience, education/designations, volunteer/board work, etc. Unless you’re a brand new graduate applying for your first position, work experience should always be listed first, followed by educational and board/volunteer experience. When listing your accomplishments under each position, do so in bullet point form in order to make it easy for the recruiter reading your resume to pick out the highlights. I would also caution against using a picture on your resume, depicting any religious, political, etc affiliations and listing any personal interests. Keep your resume focused on your professional accomplishments. During the interview you’ll have an opportunity to let your personality and good looks shine through!
Proofread Until It Hurts
Don’t forget to give your resume to someone objective to proofread before you send it out into the world. Nothing ruins a well-put together resume more than careless grammatical and spelling errors. If you don’t put the time into checking over your resume for errors, why would recruiters think you’ll put the time into checking over your work for errors?
If you follow the five tips listed above when creating a resume, you’ll end up with a professional and well-thought out resume that will impress the recruiter or HR manager reviewing it. Remember, your resume is the first impression you make on a recruiter and is the reason you’re given the go ahead for an interview. There’s no excuse not to make it a good first impression.
