Spring is here. If you’re thinking about spring cleaning, washing windows may be top of mind. But what about a career spring cleaning? If you’ve been thinking about better job opportunities, there is no better time than spring to clean up your resume. It’s the first step toward a career shift that could change everything in the best possible way. Here are seven tips for a resume refresh that will get you noticed by employers.
1. Lower Your Page Count
Two pages and five minutes. That’s all you need for all the time a recruiter gives your resume. (Actually, it’s probably less time than that!) A five- or six-page resume, or even three pages, is just too many.) Try to shorten sentences, cut unnecessary words, and use more bullet points.
2. Delete Your Objectives
We don’t mean to eliminate your personal objectives; just lose that section on your resume. You can leave a tagline or a one-sentence summary of who you are professionally. However, everyone knows your objective is to find a new job. There’s no reason to have a paragraph as the lead on your resume because it just wastes space (See #1).
3. Concentrate on Skills and Tasks
Use action-driven descriptors to describe your skills, tasks, and accomplishments. Every sentence should be selected carefully to highlight concrete accomplishments. Give the employer solid examples of what you did on the job. Not what your team did, but what you accomplished.
4. Cut Out Outdated Jobs
If you’ve been working for more than a decade, you know that all of that experience makes you who you are today. Unfortunately, if your early career isn’t relevant to the job you’re applying for and holds no value, leave it out. Employers want a resume that goes back about 10-years but no further.
5. Make Volunteer Work Relevant
It’s okay to list volunteer work, but only if it’s relevant to the job you’re applying to. While it does give the employer a sense of who you are as a person, it does waste space on a resume geared for one thing—finding you a job.
6. Freshen the Design
Does your resume read cleanly? When we suggest freshening the design, we don’t mean adding your picture or making it graphics-intensive. Applicant tracking systems (ATS), which most recruiters use, may have trouble picking up on fancy designs. Do shoot for a modern, clean design, however.
7. Write for Keywords
We recommend changing your resume or having more than one resume designed for keywords relevant to the job you’re seeking. Look at two or three ads for jobs you’re applying to. Do you see the same words popping up repeatedly reflecting the job itself? Those keywords are searchable in ATS platforms. To make your resume searchable, add keywords and get noticed.
Contact Our Recruiters Today for Resume Help
Lingo Staffing can help you get noticed. We work with candidates to match them to the best career opportunities. Our service is free to job seekers. Call on us today.
