In this edition of VC5 Consulting Insider, we have collated some key pieces of advice candidates can use to truly stand out to recruiters and get closer to landing their next job opportunity. Your resume is often the first impression recruiters have of you, so it is non-negotiable to have a polished resume to showcase your qualifications and skills. You want to show off your abilities, not your mistakes!
What follows are several best practice tips and tricks you can use to elevate your resume in the eyes of recruiters:
- Focus on Relevant Skills and Experiences: Only include skills and experiences that are relevant to the industry you want to work in or, more specifically, the job role you want to land. You want recruiters to immediately see the relevant skills/experiences that make you a fit for that specific job
- Quantify Your Impact: Listing your previous job responsibilities is fine but you want to be more than just fine. By adding quantifiable metrics, you can show what impact you made not just that you did that job. For example, adding that you ‘increased conversions by 40% in your first quarter’ would be very attractive to recruiters
- Don’t Forget About Those Soft Skills: Soft skills (personal character traits such as adaptability and good communication) are as valued by recruiters and employers as hard skills. Employers are no longer simply hiring because you have years of experience in the industry/field, rather they are looking for people who will also seamlessly fit within the company culture and uphold organizational values
- Optimize Your Keywords: Modern companies often have applicant-tracking software (ATS) that will simply discard your resume if it does not contain certain keywords chosen by the hiring staff that are relevant to the job description. To avoid having your resume thrown out before reaching a manager, ensure to include relevant keywords (around 3-5) in your resume without overloading it unnecessarily. You will find the important keywords in the job description you are applying for as well as on the company website and social pages.
- Perfect Spelling and Formatting: It’s pretty simple, if you make a spelling mistake on your resume chances are you will not be considered for the job. There is no way around it, you have to be able to spell-check for any errors and remove them before recruiters find them. You do not want the hiring staff at your dream company to have a negative first impression of you after discovering spelling errors in your resume
- Review, Revise, and Refresh: Constantly sharpening and improving your resume with new experiences/qualifications is a great habit to develop and can only benefit you. It can be as little as adding another personal interest to the end of your resume, but everything will add up in the long run and this avoids potentially leaving big gaps in your resume that will generate hesitancy from recruiters/managers
Formatting Best Practices
The best resumes are simple, clutter-free, and do not confuse and distract the reader while they look through them. Optimal formatting of your resume will communicate your unique value proposition as a candidate with one quick skim through and leave hiring managers wanting to know more. If you present a poorly formatted resume, companies do not have time to wade through and find your most important experience and will simply move on to the next resume.
The most common resume format used by professionals is the chronological resume which lists your experiences in reverse chronological order with your most recent role appearing first at the top of the page. This format is widely used as it communicates your relevant, recent experience upfront without any distractions so hiring managers don’t need to dig for what they are looking for. Consider the following example:
The resume above is a great example of a concise and effective chronological resume that lists all of the candidate’s experience in reverse chronological order so the hiring staff can see their career progression and growth.
You will also see a small summary section near the top of this example resume. This can be an effective way of conveying your value as a candidate by giving a quick elevator pitch style of introduction to yourself and the rest of your resume. If you decide to include a summary in your resume, do not make it more than a couple of sentences, and include an experience/skill that you think will best hook the reader into looking at the rest of your resume. Just as you do in the rest of your resume, use quantifiable metrics within the summary to showcase your value and stand out as a candidate.
At the bottom of our example, there is a small section reserved for additional skills and other extras you want to include. This part of your resume is a great chance to include keywords that are important to the hiring company and role, so make sure to implement those and get picked up by the ATS systems that screen resumes.
⭐BONUS TIP⭐: Use action verbs for your bullet points to emphasize your impact and value – use verbs such as “Led”, “Planned”, “Coordinated”, and “Managed”, among many others to add an edge to your resume and showcase your experience in an engaging way!
Are You Ready for a New Career-Boosting Job Opportunity? VC5 Consulting Can Help!
Now that you have perfected your resume, contact one of our recruiters or check out our job board to get your journey to a new opportunity underway. We cannot wait to get to know you and help you find that job you have been searching for.
Let us know of any resume tips you have discovered over the years, we would love to hear your thoughts. Best of luck in your job search!