To land the job you’re seeking, you will need to have the best resume you can. In order to get a prospective employer to consider you when skimming over your resume, you want to catch their attention and spark interest. Although there is no one set rule of thumb that applies across board or that guarantees you’ll land the interview, there are several factors that will increase your chances over the competition.
The first place to start in writing your best resume is with content; keep in mind that you are advertising yourself and telling a prospective employer that when he hires you he will get what is advertised.
Next consider the industry you will send your best resume to. Research the company and find out what they do, who is their management, what do they look for in their employees, what do they need, and any other information that will help you. Tailor your resume around their needs, putting your best foot forward. This is where you can honestly toot your horn; just keep it specific to their needs and how you will fill it. The first few paragraphs should be the strongest to make yours the best resume they see. The person hiring might receive up to 200 or more resumes, so sell yourself in the first 2 paragraphs.
Most hiring managers screen resumes quickly and have to look at hundreds a resumes a day. When these managers read resumes, they skim through each one in a matter of seconds. Places to put emphasis include your objective and summary. These paragraphs give out a lot more information about the candidate than meets the eye. You want to make sure that your grammar and spelling in these paragraphs are flawless. Summarize your qualifications but also add something unique about yourself that would allow you to stand out from the pack.
After you’ve written the first section of your best resume, the 2nd section should be devoted to backing up your sales and advertising pitch with the hard evidence; your job and work history. Here you don’t want to go overboard, but rather include the main highlights which clinch the deal and give them reason to want to phone you right away. Add mystery by keeping it brief while showing them what you’ve accomplished.
Employers nowadays will use automated computer programs that search candidate resumes for certain keywords. If your resume doesn’t include the keyword(s) that they are looking for, it will be ignored. Make sure you research the industry you are trying to get into and use the right keywords in your resume, but be sure not to overdo it as your resume still needs to be readable by a human being, such as the person you might be interviewing with!
If you are a new college graduate, make sure that you don’t just list all your college classes and grades in your resume and put that as the main emphasis. Most employers are not interested in how well you did in your classes, but how well you actually do on a job. Your job experience is what matters most. If you don’t have a lot of job experience, the best thing to do is to list how you contributed to any clubs or social activities at or outside your school, your responsibilities, and how you got things done.
And finally, keep your format simple and easy to read, use correct grammar, and double check for spelling errors. With this guide as a foundation you should be well on your way to creating the best resume you can.
Photo Credit:Flazingo Photos
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