So you’ve found your dream job and now it’s time to apply. Or maybe you’re still looking for jobs and want to figure out what you can do to boost your resume to make it stand out in the crowd of applicants? Read these tips on how to improve your resume quality and land that dream job!
7 Foolproof Ways For Boosting Your Resume
A quality resume will help get you in the door for an interview and start the process of getting your dream job! Hiring managers often have a pile of resumes to sift through and have very little time to do so. Follow the tips below for how to boost your resume and have confidence in making sure it stands out!
1. One Page Only!
Keeping your resume to one page makes it easier for hiring managers and recruiters to quickly learn the information that you want them to know about you. This process involves determining what information is relevant, and what isn’t. Delete the clutter. Unless you have 15+ years of relevant experience for that position, there is no need to go over one page. With that being said, consider the following:
Keep Your Resume Up-to-Date
An updated resume is crucial. All of the information on your resume needs to be relevant and current. Your most recent work and accomplishments should be at the top, working in reverse chronological order. This is the preferred format of most recruiters and hiring managers. Any old information on your resume only serves to make you look unprofessional and make it seem like you did not put effort into your resume.
A Note on Design
Design matters for your resume, but don’t overdo it. The design should be appealing, but not distracting. The content of the resume is far more important than the look of the page. If you’re writing a cover letter as well (and you should), make sure that the design of the cover letter matches the design of your resume.
2. Externships
If you’re still in school and wondering how to boost your resume, take an externship! An externship is a chance to get on-the-job training and teach you how to translate your job experience onto your resume. Learn more about externship opportunities provided at Berks Technical Institute here.
Any type of career training program is going to help exponentially in landing your dream job. The curriculums are made to help you learn the necessary skills that an employer would be looking for in that field of study. Employers love to see that an applicant already has some “real life” experience in addition to their educational training. This is a great way to set yourself ahead!
3. Proofread, proofread, proofread
There is no room for error here. Spelling and grammar errors are one of the easiest and fastest ways to get your resume thrown out. If you have spelling and grammatical mistakes in your resume, the employer will either think that you do not care or lack attention to detail. Take the time to double and triple-check your resume.
Be extra careful with any text in all-caps because spell-check will ignore any spelling errors that are all uppercase.
Once you think your resume is perfect, read it out loud. This may help you find additional areas that can be reworded or cleaned up. It’s also a good idea to have someone else read over your resume to ensure it makes sense and reads clearly.
4. Make it Unique to the Position
Cater all of the information on your resume to the position you are applying for. A resume is your way of marketing yourself to the employer. You want to show them why you are the best person for that position specifically. Therefore, you may end up creating multiple versions of your resume (and cover letter) depending on how many positions you apply for, and if the job description differs.
Information that is not relevant to the position you are applying for is just wasted space on the page. Even if your previous job is completely different from what you are applying for, find a way to show how it might be helpful in the new position. This process of tailoring your previous experience to the new position is a great way to enhance your resume.
5. Replace the “Objective” Section with “Summary”
The objective section is simply no longer relevant for most employers. Most of the time it ends up being wasted space on the page and does not convey any new or useful information. The objective section is typically used for you to tell the employer what you want from them. A lot of people fill this section with generic and cliché phrases that don’t separate them from the crowd in any way.
Replace that section with a “Summary” section that you can use to highlight information that you feel is most relevant. The summary section lets you focus more on the company’s needs instead of what you want from them. Keep this section a concise and professional synopsis of experience and achievements.
6. Make it Easy to Skim
A quality resume should be easy to skim. The goal here is to make it easy for the recruiters and hiring managers to quickly find out a lot of information about you. The truth of the matter is they are unlikely to read every word of your resume. They are usually skimming through resumes in a hurry. By making your resume easy to skim, you can guide them to the information you feel is most important and enhance your resume.
You can make your resume easier to skim with a few easy steps:
- Do not center any of your text
- Keep dates on the right side
- Add divider lines between sections
- Bold your roles or the company, but not both
- Use all-caps very sparingly
- List your skills in a separate section
- Use a professional and easy to read font.
7. Add Your LinkedIn Profile
Along with your contact information (or in a separate section with other social media accounts when applicable), be sure to add your LinkedIn profile. Also, if you haven’t already, create a custom URL for your profile to make it look a lot cleaner in your resume. LinkedIn has instructions on how to do this.
We are in the digital age and your resume will probably be read off a computer screen, so make sure any links you have are live.
Personal Websites
Wherever you add your LinkedIn profile on your resume is also a great spot to add your personal website, if you have one. This can be a great way to separate yourself from the crowd and enhance your resume. Your website is a good spot to show previous projects you’ve done and show the employer more about yourself without overloading your resume page.
Start Today on Improving Your Resume Quality
Your resume is a marketing document for yourself. Make it count! Recruiters and hiring managers have to sort through a lot of resumes and read the same generic and cliché sayings over and over again. Boost your resume by making it stand out from the crowd. Follow these tips for how to improve the quality of your resume and increase your chance of landing your dream job!
