Did you know that every job opening receives 250 resumes on an average? Moreover, only 4 out of 6 applicants are called for an interview and only 1 of them gets a job offer. Now, what are your chances of getting a job? Understandably, you need to get yourself stand out of the crowd.
Your resume plays a crucial role in career management. Since your resume is the point of connection between you and the organisation, it is where you need to concentrate on the most. Your resume should be so impressively put together that it catches the eye of the recruiter immediately.
The following tips will help you to get your resume noticed.
Keep it short and simple
No recruiter has time or energy to scan through resumes that look like a manuscript. You don’t want him or her to trash your resume even before looking at it, right? So, your resume should be no more than one or two pages. Put only that information that makes the most powerful impact on your behalf.
Follow Standard Format
Unless you are applying for an artistic or creative job, leave all flashy designs and formatting in your resume aside. Follow the basics – black font, legible font size, name & contact information at the top and clear subheadings (experience, education, skills, etc.). Also, make sure that formatting is consistent throughout the resume. Imagine how weird the resume will look in a mix of different fonts, underlines and italics! After preparing the resume, send it to your personal email id as well as take a hard copy printout. It will give you an idea how your resume will appear to others.
Customize Your Resume
Let’s say you are a software engineer. Obviously, you would be applying for IT jobs. However, the job specifics differ from one company to another. When you read the job ad, take a close look at what are the requirements. Accordingly, you can check what requirements you fulfil and highlight them on the resume. Similarly, every job portal has its own format to follow. Take care of that too. This will ensure that the recruiters known you have what they are looking for.
Make Machine-Friendly Resume
Unless you are living under a rock, you should be aware that many tech-savvy companies use automated resume screening tools. These electronic tools browse through the resumes based on certain keywords. Your resume should incorporate these keywords. For example, if you are listing technical skills, be more specific such as Java, C++, XML, HTML, etc. Similarly, soft skills could be specific like communication, networking, etc.
Don’t let a poor resume come in the way of your career success. Follow the above tips to stay at the top of job competition.
