Your resume can do a lot more than land you a job interview. It can also help position you as the top candidate going into interviews, and even help you get a higher starting salary which could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your career.
So how do you know if you’ve written your resume correctly so it gives you a leading edge over other job candidates? Below is a resume checklist with ten strategies to help you write your resume and put yourself in high demand in today’s job market.
- Feature key words. Key words are those skills listed as the job requirements in the job postings. Key words are different for every job so you need to look closely at the job description. Then, showcase all of those requirements that you meet in a section called Key Strengths, right underneath the Objective section.
- Show results. This is the single biggest difference in making your resume stand out from all the other thousands of resumes. I do this myself, and I know this is why I get the interviews. Underneath your Key Strengths section, I list 4-5 career highlights that are results focused. Quantify each of your career highlights in terms of dollars, percentages, or numbers. For example, let’s say that you’re in sales and you’ve brought in an average of 10 new clients per month. That’s 120 clients a year, and if you’ve been doing that for the past 3 years, that’s 360 new clients! So one of your career highlights could be, Gained approximately 360 new clients which generated $360,000 in new revenue in three years.Also, try to quantify each of your accomplishments for every job that you list in the Experience section.
- Highlight leadership and teamwork. Hiring managers look for candidates who are strong leaders, AND strong team contributors. Someone who can lead, as well as be led. So highlight your leadership skills – and what the results were with the projects and teams that you’ve led. If you’re just started out in your career and haven’t led any projects or teams, then highlight any leadership experience you may have had in professional organizations, a sports league, in church, or any other extra-curricular activities. Also, list projects in which you were a strong team member in terms of what your role was, and what the team accomplished.
And finally…
Studies show that your resume has about 20-seconds in the hands of a hiring manager before it gets tossed into the “maybe” pile, or into the trash. Think of it this way, when you walk into an interview you’re going to dress up to make a great first impression. Your resume needs to do the same thing – make a great first impression!
If you’d like help in getting more interviews, grabbing the attention of HR professionals, or reinventing yourself into a new career, then check out our resume services. You may also want to see how we’ve helped our clients reinvent their career!
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