Tips to make your resume stand out

When applying for a job, you’re counting on your experience, skills and personality to land you that dream job. However, before you get the opportunity to meet a potential employer, your resume must be unique enough to get you called in for an interview. Hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes, so it’s best if yours lands on top of the pile. Your resume is the most important tool in the job application process and is the major driver of securing interviews.

This blog post will examine top tips that will help to make your resume stand out to get you that desired position.

Respond Directly to the Job Description

Recruiters generally have specific ideas about what technical skills and experiences candidates will need to perform excellently well in open positions and your resume should mirror the description they’ve included in their ads or listings. In a sea of wishy-washy resumes, the most fascinating resume is the one that seems to capture all of their requirements, including necessary work experience, technical skills, licenses, certifications and degrees. If you feel like your previous work experience is not relevant to the job description posted, get creative and structure your current skill set to something you can utilize in a new role. Chances are, you have more skills than you may realize.

Quantify Your Accomplishments

It’s not just enough to regurgitate your job description, instead quantify your accomplishments. And the best way to describe your accomplishments is with numbers. For instance, how much did you save your company? What value did you add to the company? How many people did you manage in your team? What was the size of the budget you managed? Quantifying your accomplishment gives hiring manager a clear idea to see how you might fit into the organization.  Remember, they aren’t as interested in what you did but rather what you accomplished. Like selling someone a vacation, you don’t sell them the plane, you sell them the destination. Doing this will give recruiters a much clearer image of your abilities and technical skills and will definitely get you called in for an interview. Instead of needlessly repeating your job description, concentrate on the accomplishments you’ve made while fulfilling your duties. Describe the ways you’ve surpassed expectation in your profession, include numbers that demonstrates your efforts and that have actually generated results.

Create a different resume for each job opening

Many candidates in a bid to save time usually put together an all-purpose resume loaded with every conceivable keyword, skill, credential etc. and send it everywhere. Apart from the fact that this is a complete turnoff, it also makes it seem like you don’t know what you’re looking for. When applying for a position, create a targeted resume for specific jobs, although this may take you some time upfront, it will help hiring managers to spot out your resume quickly. Adapt your resume to the job you’re applying for, only include relevant experience, training and certification. Some organizations now use ATS (some form of an automated applicant tracking system) whose algorithms are designed to select only resumes whose keywords match the ones in the formal job description.

A complementary cover letter

This gives you a chance to impress a recruiter. A cover letter gives you an opportunity to highlight some of your recent professional accomplishments. Make sure you give an insight into who you are as an employee and bring out the unique skills that set you apart. Each cover letter must be tailored to the company you’re applying for. Do a bit of research on the company and try to match your skills and experience to the position in question. The cover letter should also highlight the resume and emphasize your experience and qualifications. The cover letter is the introductory step that shows hiring managers why you’re their ideal candidate.

Leverage LinkedIn

Is your LinkedIn profile up to date? Hiring managers are increasingly checking online profiles of prospective candidates. Check to see if your work history is updated and that your profile summary and headline are adjusted for the type of work you’re looking for. If you’re especially keen on SEO, you may even get hiring managers to notice you for jobs you haven’t applied for yet. Ensure you create a professional LinkedIn page.

Most importantly… Network

Yep, that’s right. If you really want to get your resume noticed you have to network. You have to get out there and meet people, then meet more people.

Want to know more about Christopher

Christopher is the Chief Value Officer and Founder of Change My Life Coaching and Co-Founder of Change My Business Coaching and the Healthy Transformations Weight Loss & Inflammation Reduction Program.  Change my Life Coaching is a fast growing whole-life, leadership and business coaching company, and the only one of it’s kind.  He is also the author of “Go Beyond Passion: Discover Your Dream Job”. Christopher spent 15+ years working in the corporate world with a plethora of industries and companies. His focus was primarily in planning, strategy, and leadership of change management and communication. Christopher is a Certified Master Coach Practitioner (CMCP), trainer and facilitator, and a passionate public speaker who truly cares about the success of each and every single person he comes into contact with. You can reach him at [email protected].