Could your resume be costing you the job?
As a potential job candidate, your resume is the most important tool in your “self-marketing” arsenal! It is the first impression you will make on an employer, but it could also be the last if your resume lacks enthusiasm or doesn’t highlight your skills and qualifications in the best way possible.
If you really want that job, it is essential that you make a memorable impression on the employer. In today’s economy, many employers may get dozens or even hundreds of resumes for a single position. This means that you are competing with lots of qualified candidates, and you must make yourself stand apart from those candidates! Here are a few tips to help make your resume shine:
Show your enthusiasm
Who wants to read a resume that is as dull and lifeless as an encyclopedia? Use action words in your resume. Employers take notice when a potential job candidate is enthusiastic and energetic. Words like achieved, negotiated, coordinated, delegated, enabled, increased, implemented and trained impress an employer, and demonstrate your ability to get things done.
Target your resume to each individual employer
When creating your resume, include skills, qualifications and achievements that relate directly to the position you are applying for. Write your career objective in a way that demonstrates how it will benefit the company. Include any training, special skills or accomplishments in past employment that are relevant to the position.
Ask yourself what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you
Employers are interested in how you will make their company or organization better. Write your objective in a concise, clear manner that places the focus on how your objective will benefit the company. Instead of writing “I want to use my 12 years of sales experience”, use “Apply 12 years of sales experience to . . . “.
Write your resume in a simple, professional manner (Simple & Professional)
You may think that using fancy fonts, graphics and lots of bold headings will impress an employer, but it won’t. Hiring managers are busy people; they want to get straight to the details they are looking for. Write your resume using simple, easy-to-read fonts with a minimum of bold or italicized words. Keep it brief, and leave plenty of white space around borders. You want an employer to be able to quickly scan your resume for the pertinent information; what you do not want is for them to have to search for it.
Keep these tips in mind when writing your resume, and you will capture both the eyes and the attention of the employer, placing you high on the list of potential job candidates.
ISGF is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). All rights reserved. Copyright ISGF 2019-2020.
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