Having a solid well written resume is your golden ticket to landing your dream role. A well written resume will cover both your responsibilities and your achievements so be sure to make these really stand out. Recruiters are looking for terrific stand out qualities in a resume so follow these tips on how to get there.
- Achievements
Don’t be modest in your achievements on your resume. If you have done the hard yards and put the ground work in then be proud of it, recruiters will be looking for standout candidates and if your achievements are already highlighted to them before even meeting with you then you’re already in front.
- Relatable responsibilities
The one size fits all approach doesn’t apply to resumes. A good tip to tailor your resume for the role is to use the key points that have been used in the job add., highlight your experience and rework your CV to fit the role (if relevant), the most valuable commodity a candidate can have is relevant experience.
- Active Language
Avoid using passive language in your CV, ‘I was part of’ is always a better sounding option than ‘I did’. Other examples include ‘I increased sales and reached KPI’s or simply using words like managed, achieved, accomplished. This helps your CV stand out more and get noticed.
- Volunteer Work
If you have dedicated any free time to volunteer work then place that on your resume. Volunteer works gives insight into your character and nature and it’s even greater if it works in with any of the skills in the job criteria. It doesn’t need to be a big part of your resume, one or two bullet points is enough, highlight what you learnt from the experience and use it to your advantage.
- Contact Details
Make your contact details clearly visible on the first page of your resume, more often than not they are found on the bottom of the page in a footer or on last page which makes it difficult to find. Use a personal email address and not your work email, this is unprofessional when job hunting and you can easily be caught out by your boss. Another useful tip is to ensure your phone number is active and is also the same phone number on any job hunting profiles, if you’re easy to contact you’ve got a greater chance of getting that job.
- Education
This section of your resume doesn’t need to be long and overloaded. Simply include the basics such as educational institution, the course completed and the year you completed it. If you have tertiary qualifications, then list them prominently, otherwise include your highest school qualifications.
- Edit your work
After you’ve finished your resume have friends or family read through and give honest feedback on the layout and correct any errors especially grammatical errors. If this option isn’t available then step back from your resume for a day or so and return with a fresh pair of eyes, if you have been looking and re reading over the same document for a long period all minor errors can easily be missed, if in doubt about anything, rewrite it.
Always remember that your CV is the first impression you are going to make with a recruiter or directly with your new employer, first impressions count so make yours memorable for the right reasons.
