Make each word count! – Top 10 tips for a winning resume

A powerful resume is the first crucial step to start a job search. It is the door to an interview and later to a job. A recruiter typically spends less than 10 seconds looking at a resume. Therefore, the onus of crafting a power packed one to get noticed lies with the seeker. To give your resume a competitive edge you can seek the help of resume experts. One such expert is Monster with its professional resume writing services and its library of resume articles to make your resume stand out!

To make a resume shine in the heap, these key must haves should be kept in mind.  

The thumb rule to resume development is to have a short and not more than a two pager resume. A less wordy resume presented in an easy-to-read style, free of any typographical errors is ideal. Recruiters conducting a talent search online or on mobile app can easily read, shortlist, and download such resumes. Since job mobile app is getting increasingly popular, a short resume helps recruiters to read and shortlist.

The flow of the resume should ensure that the contents seamlessly connect with each other. A reverse chronological order is preferred with clear linkages between education, jobs, and accomplishments. For a resume to be convincing, you must include the results of skills and assessment tests undertaken for the job desired. Job portals and mobile apps enable seekers to take such skills and assessment tests and share the results with relevant recipients.

A resume needs to persuade the recruiter to an interview. Therefore, quantify the work with facts or metrics to qualify for its effects. Show your accomplishments in numbers. It gives the seeker that extra edge with evidence of the impact generated in work highlighted.

Every resume should frame strengths subtly which says that the seeker is a success. As success is best measured against a benchmark, it is best to elaborate it using baselines, industry standards or relative terms. Defining the relevance of success quoted demonstrates the value of a seeker against competition. 

Job suitability not just depends on talent, qualifications, experience and accomplishments but also soft skills such as time management, leadership, crisis management, work ethics, team work, amongst others. Soft skills many a times end up as deciding factors for hiring apart from the basics. 

The resume is a marketing tool and being shy or undermining achievements is grossly under selling oneself. Achievements gain an edge when competition is shown or talked about. So revealing how many people in how many departments were gunning for an award you won raises the level of the achievement. 

Job seeking and candidate scouting both have shifted online. Recruiters are using search engines to narrow down the profiles and it is the key words that pop up the relevant resumes. So align your resume with relevant terminology for specific positions. Research on the requirements of an employer and include those key words to get shortlisted.

Often paid the least attention by seekers in their resume, things like personal interests can be the talking points for a resume reader. Writing interests in a quirky way often ends up memorable; fitting in and standing out at the same time. Be specific while mentioning interests, for example, write ‘loves country music’ instead of a general ‘loves music’.

In the online and mobile job market with highly powered search engines, it is a fact that well-known brands shines when recruiters scan resumes. So include direct or indirect brand associations, to build instant credibility like a mention about of servicing a Fortune 500 company or a well reputed institution. 

And lastly, remember that the one-size-fits-all adage does not go for resumes. Every resume, keywords, should be appropriately tweaked for the company and job profile targeted. A targeted resume instantly connects the seeker with the recruiter who is trying to align the resume’s information with the yardstick created.