(Download the free
Resume Template located at the end of this blog post to help you create a
stellar resume that is described in the below post – Enjoy!)
A resume. For
business and accounting majors, this may be one of the few opportunities you
have to present your writing; however this document must include your best
writing. For those who do not know how
to write a resume, this could be one of the hardest tasks.
Many jobs have been won and lost by the condition of an
applicant’s resume. An employer will
most likely not consider you as a job applicant if your resume is not finely
formatted and contains grammatical or spelling errors throughout your
resume. In order to get the position you
want, your resume needs to reflect the best presentation of yourself. Without the best resume of job candidates, you may not even get an interview. Below are the top tips that can help you get
the stellar resume that will get you called in for interviews and jobs.
1) Know your future employer.
This one seems simple, but I cannot
tell you how many people go in for an interview who do not know the business of
the employer. This can translate to
resume writing as well.
If the business you
are applying for is in a more reserve and conservative field, then your resume
should reflect their theme. On a younger
hiring staff of a “cutting edge” company, you may attempt to take a chance with
your resume and attempt a style that is slightly different than the conservative
one at the end of this blog post.
Also, some companies have little
preferences that they prefer to see their candidates have. Some companies throw out resumes of
candidates because their resumes are more than one page long (their thought is
that you don’t have enough experience to fill more than one page). Other companies do not care that your resume
goes onto the second page, as long as the presentation is nice and easy to
read. However, you will not know these
things unless you are able to talk to someone who has interviewed with that
company before. That is why networking
and talking to other is also part of the process of knowing the employer.
2) Focus on what YOU can do for THEM.
This point is especially crucial
for those job opportunities that require a cover letter to accompany your
resume. However, this is applicable to
the beginning summary at the top of your resume and the details for each
position that is listed.
Companies are looking for
candidates that can help further their goals and vision for the company. Therefore, do not spend a lot of time talking
about how much the company can do to further your career. The company knows you are interested in their
position for your career – why else would you have applied?
Therefore, if you know the
business/strategy of your future employer and can tie that in to the skills you
possess; you will create a resume that will catch the eyes of recruiters. The more interest you can generate, the
higher probability you have to be brought in for an interview.
3) Margins, Organization, and Spacing Oh My!
Bottom line: an easily read resume is a good resume. If you cause the recruiter to go cross-eyed
attempting to read your resume, than the only thing you have accomplished is
angering the recruiter which will not bode well for those seeking interviews. The safest bet for margins is a one inch (1”)
spacing all the way around your resume.
However, for those trying to squeeze content onto one page, you may
attempt messing a little with the margins but be sure that the margins are
equal on all sides of your resume.
As far as organization goes, try to
follow some format of organization. The
template at the end of this post follows a time organization for the various
job positions held. I believe that time
organization is the easiest to follow because then the employer knows that the
most recent content of your resume is listed first in each section. Getting to the point is extremely useful
especially if the recruiter has already looked at a couple hundred resumes
before getting to yours.
4) Create High Energy Content That Excites Your Reader.
Of all the points listed, I think
this is the one that is neglected the most and it can lead to more missed
opportunities by not incorporating this into a well formatted resume. Rewording your job descriptions of positions
held into a more dynamic description can do wonders for both you and the
recruiter who will eventually get stuck reading your resume in the preliminary
screening for the job position.
Examples:
Bad: “Worked as a nanny to babysit 2 kids”
Good: “Managed multiple children and schedules to
ensure prompt attendance on all activities.”
Remember, this is going below the
job description that you provide so avoid using the title of the job in your
detail about the job.
In the second example, the job
applicant has demonstrated time management while managing various aspects of
his/her job. This is crucial as these
are skills that can be easily translated into almost any job.
The first description applies
solely to nannying and does not provide any details.
By
loading up your resume with the above pointers, you can begin to separate
yourself from the other pack of applicants that are vying for your future
position. The more you can separate
yourself in a good way from the other applicants, the higher percentage of you
getting called in for an interview and beginning to have your choice of your
next job.
For other tips and tricks, feel free to send an email to our
address and we will cover more steps to writing a stellar resume in future blog
posts.
To
Your Success,
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