In the professional world, your resume is the equivalent of Facebook in your social life - without it you don’t exist and if it’s bad, you get nowhere. As job hunting season begins, you better make sure you’re at the top of your game with a strong and well-crafted resume. Here are the six steps I use to create a resume that gets me hired every time.
1. Make sure all the details are in place
It’s easy to forget to list your address or e-mail, but be sure to include those. Not only does this information make your resume look legitimate, but it also helps the hiring manager contact you quickly. Your phone number has to be up to date. It helps to have your website on there as well, because in today’s technology driven world, being able to create your own site shows initiative and motivation.
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2. Include your achievements
As a naturally shy person, I had a hard time accepting the fact that I had to brag on my resume. Truth is that when you apply for a position, you have to show every accomplishment you can possibly take credit for.
Were you a valedictorian? Did you serve as the captain of your debate team? Are you a rugby rockstar and an awesome team player? List your achievements and don’t hold back. Get creative with your wording as well. A sneaky trick when building a resume is to include keywords from the job posting. Be cool about it and don’t make it super obvious. Let’s say you’re applying for a marketing job. Say the position description uses phrases like “quick on your feet,” guess what - this is exactly what you learned while playing college rugby. Put all of that on your resume.
3, Perfect these four key areas
The best resumes are short and to the point. Usually, recruiters won’t even bother reading anything that’s longer than one page. In fact, according to Business Insider, hiring managers spend a grand total of six seconds on your resume. Scary, right? In order to catch their attention, be sure to perfect these four areas:
- Name - include your full name and e-mail
- Current company & position - especially the start and end date
- Previous position and duration of it
- Education - yes, education is THAT far down on the list
The results of this research is based on two dozen recruiters, so you know the numbers don’t lie.
4. No selfies
I’ve had to apply for jobs in both the US and in Europe. While in Europe a good CV includes a photo, in the US it does not. In fact, having a photo on your resume may hurt your application. Why? Have you noticed the tiny print that states how companies don’t discriminate on gender, sexual orientation and race? Well, having your photo on the resume reveals at least two of those three right off the bat, so you’re technically not playing according to the rules.
What if you have a killer photo? Don’t worry. You can include your LinkedIn profile, so when recruiters look you up, they’ll see you strolling down 5th Avenue in a designer suit carrying a leather briefcase. You just can’t be too upfront about it.
Image by Tookapic
5. Don't forget your technical skills
The tech industry is what drives the world right now, so if you have knowledge of software beyond Microsoft Office (I mean, come on, even my grandma knows how to work it), definitely include it on your resume. Anything from SalesForce to Kareo and Quickbooks will help. Editing software such as Final Cut Pro and Lightroom looks great on your resume. If you’re proficient in data entry and invoice generation, tell them about it. Those are all valuable skills that elevate you a step above the competition.
6. Ask for help
In my senior year at Trinity, I went to the career services center more than a dozen times to get help with my resume. I kept rewriting and reformatting to come up with one sleek page that wouldn’t bore recruiters to death. The truth is that creating a quality resume is often not a single person job. Fortunately, there’s lots of professional help out there for you. I like the Velvet Jobs resume builder, because it’s super easy to use and you get personalized advice.
They make sure that you include all the right info and have a top-notch design. This is because they have real experts who look at your work as opposed to a digitally engineered algorithm. Here’s the coolest part: through their resume building portal, you can literally transfer your Facebook information onto a sleek template and create your resume in less than an hour. Give it a shot.
Follow these six strategies and relax, you’ll get the job done.
