Life Experience
Make your resume interesting by including some unique facts about yourself. If you start off with a small section called “Life Experience” and include a few interesting things you’ve done like hiking the entire Appalachian Trail or catching a 50 pound fish or whatever, it will make you memorable and give the recruiter something to ask you about if they call you in for an interview.
Choose Your Words Carefully
The right words can make a resume stand out, while the wrong ones can make it doomed for the trash. Use action words to allow you to be seen as a can-do person, and keep everything concise.
- Bulleted lists are great for emphasizing skills while making your resume easy to skim.
- Instead of just listing facts about yourself, show an employer how you got results in your previous jobs.
- Use good grammar, check your spelling and have at least one other person read over it to look for mistakes.
See how many words you can eliminate to give the same information in a concise organized way.- Eliminate words to present information concisely.
Layout
Many job seekers make the mistake of trying to make their resumes stand out by using unusual fonts or layouts. However, this usually has the opposite of its intended effect. A resume that’s too distracting to employers often winds up in the reject stack. One thing that can be done to improve the looks of a resume is to save the file as a PDF document. That way it will always appear the same no matter what kind of computer or type of software the recruiter is using to look at it. Once it is saved as a PDF document if you want to make changes normally you would have to go back to the original document and edit it and then save it as a PDF again. But now there is software that allows editing PDF files directly so you can skip that extra step. Sending a resume to an employer in PDF format not only shows you know your way around a computer, but also presents the resume in an easy-to-read format.
Focus on the Job
Too many resumes are generic, rather than being tailored to the job for which a person is applying. In the old days, when resumes were run off in mass quantities on a commercial “off-set” printing press, you couldn’t customize it, but these days with word processing software and even electronic resumes there is no reason you can’t customize your resume for each job (except laziness) and every reason why you should take the time to do it right.
Many people think if they list all their previous jobs, that will make them more appealing to employers. However, if you’re applying to be a computer programmer, it’s a good idea to focus on why you would make a great programmer. So you need to tailor your resume to that specific programming job using the exact keywords used in the job description. But you don’t want to leave gaps in your employment history either, so only include the bare minimum about the fast-food job on the resume. Focus instead on skills, certifications and knowledge that can be applied to the specific job at hand.
By following these tips to improve your resume, the dream job that’s been waiting for you can become reality in no time.
See Also:
- Job Hunting: 5 Great Ways to Attract Prospective Employers
- How Your Social Media Profile Affects Your Job Search
- The Difference a Degree Makes in Unemployment Levels
- Choosing a Professional Resume Writing Service
- Job Hunting Success: How to Make Yourself More Employable
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Resume Paper | Resume Magic, 4th Ed: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume Writer |
Knock ’em Dead Resumes: How to Write a Killer Resume That Gets You Job Interviews | Resumes For Dummies |
