Your resume is a written document that outlines your employment history and showcases your education, qualifications, skills and career highlights and should show you as an employee in the best possible way. Whilst nobody lands a job on their resume alone it is often the first impression that your potential employer or recruiter will have of you so it’s important to get it right.
Your resume is the tool that will assist you in securing the first job interview – it should give the person reading your resume a reason to pick up the phone and call you to discuss your application further; it is imperative that your resume is up to date, meticulously correct, not overinflated and relevant to the role you are applying for. Read on to learn our tips to help you set out the perfect resume.
- Put your contact details clearly at the top of the first page, and make sure these are correct. Ensure its easy for the employer or recruiter to reach out to you via phone or email, it’s also a good idea to make sure you have a professional recorded voicemail message and ensure your email address is professional too.
- List your work experience in chronological date order, include your employment dates against each role.
- Ensure the ‘bulk’ of your resume is clear and concise; 5 - 10 bullet points under each role, outlining your key responsibilities and achievements is a great way to do this.
- You can be assured that your recruiter and future interviewer will do their research; ensure you don't leave jobs off, include any false information or over fluff your job titles and responsibilities.
- Ensure the final document is well formatted – try not to go over 3 pages, relevant content which you can expand on in interview is key. Don’t worry about fancy fonts and formats, these can often get mixed around when your resume is pushed through a job portable which can make your resume hard to read.
- And finally, probably the most important step of all - check, double check and triple check the spelling, punctuation and grammar. We would also suggest having a friend or family member read over your application before you hit send as a second set of eyes may pick up something you missed.
