5 Tips For Writing A Resume That Will Get You The Interview
You might have all the practical experience an employer could want, but if your resume is a complete mess there’s a strong chance you won’t make it to the first round of interviews. An excellent resume tells the story of how you’ve grown professionally and gives a concrete impression regarding how you can contribute said growth to potential employers’ teams. Here are 5 tips for writing a resume that stands out:
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Make doubly sure your resume is error free
A resume that is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors conveys sloppiness and poor eye for detail. Don’t just read through your resume three times. Get a friend to look over it or (even better), outsource polishing your resume to a professional writer who knows the format inside out.
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Tweak your resume according to the job you are applying for
It’s good to have your default resume on standby, but when you apply for a job interview, you might need to tweak your resume a little to highlight specific skills or professional experiences that correspond to duties you would have in the position you are seeking.
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I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Stupid
The K.I.S.S. principle applies when writing a resume. That ornate font you’ve been dying to play with is best saved for another day. Try to keep your resume to two pages maximum and use a clear, clean layout and font. Recruiters will not thank you if there is clutter to wade through.
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Avoid hazy selling keywords
To impress recruiters, you might be tempted to pepper your resume with terms such as ‘team player’ or ‘goal-focused’. Yet these general terms are too vague to tell interviewers why they should choose to interview you for the job and not the next applicant.
Instead, include real achievements that you can relate to the position you’re applying to. ‘Managed a team of 9 developers’ makes far more impact than ‘dedicated team player.’
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Use words that refer to titles and quantify your achievements
Instead of saying ‘worked in marketing’, describe your actual title (e.g. ‘Junior digital marketer’). Instead of simply stating your achievements (‘grew traffic from social media according to targets’), quantify your goals (‘grew traffic from social media by 256% in 3 months’).
Your CV should tell a compelling story implicitly stating why you are the best candidate available.
