Looking for a new job or searching for employment in the New Year? It may not be spring time yet but it’s definitely time to spring clean your resume! There are so many samples and templates available on the internet to give you a few ideas but rather than making you search, we’re giving you these 5 steps to help you spruce up that tired resume:
Remove silly meaningless words:
Passionate, driven, results-oriented, team-player, etc. need to be permanently removed – now.
It’s so tempting to fill a resume with these “confidence inspiring” words, but don’t do it, it will only hurt your resume. Populating your resume with these insignificant words will only dilute and pollute your resume. Why? Because in reality they mean nothing without any context behind them – it’s called putting lipstick on a pig. Your resume should be direct and to the point.
It’s all in the numbers:
Without numbers to help define the actual scope of your abilities and accomplishments, your resume will be unclear, boring and vague. You’re still doing too much telling and not enough showing if you haven’t included numbers. Even if its stating the size of the company you worked in, this will provide the hiring manager with some valuable insight into your previous work experience.
Remove old and unrelated info:
It’s 2016 so your experience from over a decade ago is probably no longer relevant – even if it’s in the same industry. And, if you’re applying for a job with no relations to your previous work experience, you’ve included totally irrelevant information.
Different job – different resume:
You’ve worked hard on writing a great resume so now you can sit back and relax – right? Wrong! You still have work to do. Your resume needs to be specific and targeted. You must craft your resume so that it adheres as closely as possible to a hiring manager’s expectations of the job in which you’re applying. That means a different resume for different jobs.
Put your best font forward:
While Times New Roman is acceptable, it may not help you put your best foot forward. There’s no “oomph.” It doesn’t hurt to style up your resume a little bit – but – don’t go crazy here. Using a different font and a binary color scheme can be a good way of making it “pop” out from your competition. Remember to keep it classy – if you use orange or red they might think you’re applying for a clown position.
If you follow these suggestions, your resume will be ready for 2016! Need help? Contact us!
Connect with us on social media: Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn – Google+