These Resume Tricks Could Help You Land An Interview

John Krautzel
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If you're trying to land an interview to no avail, it may be time to evaluate your resume to determine whether it's turning off hiring managers. Think of this all-important document as your advertisement to let hiring managers know what you can bring to their organization and convince them that you're the best candidate for the job. Consider these quick tips to spruce up your resume.

1. Include a Professional Summary

Skip the outdated objective statement; instead, begin your resume with a professional summary that demonstrates your relevant education, applicable work experience, special skills and impressive achievements. While the old objective statements told an employer what you want, the professional summary shows what you can offer the organization.

2. Use Keywords to Your Advantage

Many organizations run submitted resumes through an applicant tracking system before a hiring manager ever lays eyes on them. Since the software scans for specific keywords and phrases, you need to choose important keywords from the job posting to incorporate into your resume.

3. Choose Action Verbs Carefully

Instead of simply listing your responsibilities on your resume, make use of action verbs to show off your skills and demonstrate your experience. Rather than writing that you "worked in the company's accounting department," tell how you "reconciled the organization's accounting records," "maintained the corporation's chart of accounts" or "prepared month-end financial statements."

4. Provide Quantitative Data

It's not enough to just list your accomplishments without sufficient evidence, so use quantitative data to back up your achievements. For example, if your resume states that you "supervised sales team," update it to tell how you "led a team of 14 salespersons, exceeding quarterly sales goals by at least 20 percent for a period or 3 years."

5. List Your Marketable Skills

Make sure your resume focuses heavily on skills you possess that are relevant to the position for which you're applying. Think about technical skills learned through education and experience, and also consider soft skills, such as working well in groups, time management, creativity or problem solving.

6. Decide on a Useful Format

If you have solid work experience, opt for a traditional resume format with headings for education and work experience. For recent grads with few employers, try a different approach — create headings for each of your skills and add bullets below each to demonstrate and elaborate on those skills. Include evidence from internships, volunteer opportunities or coursework.

7. Advertise Your Online Presence

Make sure recruiters looking at your resume can find your professional social media profiles or online portfolios easily. Provide web addresses beneath your contact information.

Hiring managers may look at hundreds of resumes for a single open position, so it's imperative that yours doesn't fade into the background with all the others. Rely on these seven quick tips when crafting your resume to ensure you make a unique first impression and land an interview.


Photo courtesy of jessica mullen at Flickr.com

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  • Faith T.
    Faith T.

    Thanks

  • Ira T.
    Ira T.

    Good advise.

  • olivia f.
    olivia f.

    thanks

  • Mary R.
    Mary R.

    Thanks for the tips.

  • LIVINS DHANUAR
    LIVINS DHANUAR

    Really...it's a great.Thankyou

  • anderson c.
    anderson c.

    Very. Good advice!!!...Thanks!

  • nadine t.
    nadine t.

    Wow!Very informative information.

  • Monica R.
    Monica R.

    Excellent advice

  • Bobby W.
    Bobby W.

    Great advice

  • Henry Medi
    Henry Medi

    @Nancy A - thanks for the tips. You indicated that one needs only to include relevant experiences, and I believe your example is, if someone is looking for inbound marketer, why does the company care about work at a car wash. That's true to some extent, but how do you account for that gap in period on the resume? I really think all jobs are related and skills from a car wash could be transferred to inbound marketing, such as leadership, teamwork, trustworthiness to be at work and on time, etc, etc, etc.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson

    @Luiz Carlos C. thanks for your comment. Yes you should incorporate some SEO into your resume in the form of "keywords". Using keywords from the job posting will help to elevate your resume so that it makes it through the ATS and into the hands of a hiring manager. In my opinion, I think that 2 pages should be the maximum. Today's rule of thumb is one page but most of us who have been in the workforce for many years struggle to keep our resume to one page. So one page resume that is "relevant" to the job posting. For example, if you are seeking a position as an inbound marketer, why does the company care that you worked at the local car wash? Relevant information that pertains to the position for which you are applying. All the best.

  • Luiz Carlos C.
    Luiz Carlos C.

    Nice tips. As an inbound marketer, it takes me to a new mindset, thinking job search as google search, and start to implement SEO techniques in the resume. Great insight, thank you. So please, in your opinion, how long must the resume be? 4 pages? 3 pages? 1 page?

  • Chelsea A.
    Chelsea A.

    Thank you! This was very helpful and I will try it!

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson

    @Tychinna Pratt thanks for your comment. One thing that you could do is do a search for sample resumes for your particular field/position. Such as "sample resumes for technical writer". Then you can see what others have used on their resumes and can use those to get you started. Use your words, not theirs. @Penny F. using keywords to your advantage is pretty easy. What I do is to find two or three job postings for the same position and then compare them to see which words are contained in at least two of them. That way you will know what keywords they have focused on and you can modify your resume accordingly. Hope that helps.

  • Penny F.
    Penny F.

    Would like to know more about "Keywords to your advantage". Give some examples please

  • Jaipal komatreddy
    Jaipal komatreddy

    Very good information for resumes need modification according to the employer needs.

  • Tychinna Pratt
    Tychinna Pratt

    Awesome information except I wish it would talk more about How to word it instead of what to say. But please know that this is done priceless information to have. Thank you

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