A resume is one of the most important things you need when applying for a job. It contains all of your information such as your skills, education, past work experiences, and your achievements with past employers.
It lets your future
employer know whether you are a good fit for their company or not. They can
also judge whether they need your skill set or not. So, you can see that a good
resume that let your employers know about you quickly, is very useful in landing
a job.
Tips for Writing a Resume
In this blog post,
you will learn some tips to increase the effectiveness of your resume.
1. Write Clearly and Succinctly
Your resume cannot be
long. Companies receive many resumes from new applicants, they do not have
enough time to read them all. It is not possible for them to read every resume
completely. Hence, a resume should be no longer than two pages while keeping it
to one page is ideal.
Write in clear words,
and reword any technical parts with a paraphrase tool online. Not all people who
check resumes are technical people. Sometimes human resources representatives
also read them. To help them understand, you need to write in an easy-to-understand
way.
That’s why always
proofread your resume and paraphrase any parts that seem difficult to make them
easier. Take help from a good paraphraser if you need to.
Have a friend or
family member read the resume and ask them if they understood everything
easily. If they had difficulty with some parts, consider paraphrasing them.
That way you can make sure that your resume is clear and straightforward.
2. Create Different Sections
Presentation is
extremely important when it comes to resumes. Employers typically only take 30 secs to read a resume.
That is not enough time to completely understand the contents.
To rectify this, you
can break your resume into multiple sections. Each section should deal with one
thing. A typical breakdown may include things like these:
- Contact info and name
- Skills
- Experience
- Education and qualifications
- Accomplishments
If you write your
resume like this, the employer will be able to check whether you suit them or
not pretty quickly. This will save time for both them and yourself.
As a side note, do
not create a “Hobbies” section, unless they are related to your work and skills.
3. Highlight Skills Relevant to the Position
If you are in the
middle of changing careers, then you should take care not to add too much
information about your old career in your resume.
Your employers are
interested in what you can offer them now, so make a point to highlight the
skills that are relevant to the position you applied for.
For example, you
worked as a graphic designer and now want to switch to being a mechanical
designer. Your resume should not contain too much information about your graphic
design and how it improved sales and returns. Instead, your focus should be on
any projects that you did that made use of the technical aspects of your
skills.
That way your new
employer will be able to judge whether your skills are required by them or not.
4. Include Work Experience Relevant to Your Skills
You cannot just say
that you have a certain skill and be done with it. You need to show some kind
of proof that you have those skills. In resumes, that proof is your work
experience.
Work experience
includes anything that you have done in relation to your skills. That can
include:
- Previous employment
- Hobby projects
- Course projects
Only include the work
experience that is related to your skills, any other work experience can be
mentioned in passing.
You should focus on
highlighting your most recent work experiences. Those are the ones that the
employers are interested in. If your experience is too outdated (15 years plus)
then employers may not look at it a second time. Hence put emphasis on experiences
that you got in the last five years.
5. Create a New Resume for Every Job
Every job demands
something different from you. If you are applying to multiple jobs that require
a similar skillset, you should not use the same resume for all of them.
Even if the
requirements seem similar, the specifics may be different. You need to create a
resume specially tailored for each job.
You may need to
highlight different skills and experiences in each resume. In the end, you want
to make a resume that is tailored for that particular job.
Too many people
create one resume, list everything they have ever done, and call it a
day. That is not the correct way. By customizing the content, you can
increase the chances of getting hired or moving to the next stage of the hiring
process.
Conclusion
Resumes are an
important part of work culture. They allow applicants to showcase their
qualifications to prospective employers. They allow companies to select the
best candidates suited for a position.
Resumes benefit immensely
when they are specifically tailored for a job opening. Generic resumes do not
find much success and they are usually the first to be set aside.
The tips mentioned in this article will help you create specialized resumes and increase your chances of getting hired at your preferred company.
