Writing a good resume is one of the most soul-destroying and sleep depriving tasks anyone will ever encounter. It’s horrible. However, without a one, your chances of landing a job are even slimmer than Conor McGregor’s chances of landing a punch (we know, right; topical). Unfortunately, because this task is so dire, too many amazing candidates fall into the habit of including everything they can and then sending it to all those jobs that have raised an eyebrow. This is not a good tactic.
So, to help you make your resume stand out – for all the right reasons – we have come up with a five tweaks you really ought to make in order to land a knockout punch:
Always Go Tailor-Made
Trust us, when you send out the same resume thirty-plus times, you’re going to get caught out. You need to radically change your resume each time. That’s because the people that read resumes – recruiters and HR departments – know when a resume has been tailored to meet the needs of a specific job role and when it has been written and mass emailed. Don’t do it.
Keywords Are Required
This may hurt your heart a little bit, but all that time you spent tailoring your resume to meet the needs of that big corporate gig you’ve had your eye may have been made in vain. A lot of the time, recruiters don’t read resumes in their entirety. There are just too many applicants. Instead, they go through a filtering system that scans for certain industry terms and keywords.
Accomplishments Not Descriptions
There is no point describing your role as a sales executive to the Head of Sales; someone who has likely worked in sales for long enough to know what your job is. Instead, focus on your accomplishments. Talk about the figures you hit. Mention the course you’ve just completed at JCU online. Show off your promotions. Explain how proud you are of being captain of the university lacrosse team. It’s the basics of storytelling: show not tell.
Add A Cover Letter
These are the four words no one wants to hear after a punishing resume writing session. However, you really want to write a cover letter if you want any hope of standing out. It shows the recruiting team that you are willing to go that extra mile, that you really want this job and, well, that is going to impress them… big time. All it needs to do is supplement your resume, beef up your skills section and tell the story of your growth a bit more.
Please Proofread
The amount of people that hit send and then decide to proofread what they’ve sent is staggering. We know your eyes and brain hurt from all that writing and thinking, but it only takes a couple more minutes to read what you’ve written. Any errors, grammar issues, spelling mistakes or anything like that will go against you. So will the fact you’ve addressed it to their main competitor, the one you approached first. This is your first impression and you only get one shot at it. Don’t waste it by not proofreading what you’ve read. It’s not worth the risk.
