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Use These 25 Tips to Write a Resume That Will Get You Noticed

Get your resume to stick out


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Writing a resume that sticks out is the key to getting filtered and offered an interview. There many do’s and dont’s for crafting a resume for the job you’re looking for. Here are the best ones:

Do’s for Writing Resumes

  1. Keep it to one page long. One page is preferred for resumes; try not to go longer than two at the maximum. For every ten years of experience you have, you can have up to one page. However, it is still best to keep your resume concise.
  2. Make it achievements-based. Instead of listing your responsibilities and including all of the important information in your titles, list out your skills, experience, and achievements.
  3. Use headings that show your experience. For example, have detailed headings that are concise and to the point: Company, Job, City, State, Month Year [Start Date] – Month Year [End date, can be present].
  4. Keep it normal. The font should be 10-12, and the margins should be 0.5″-1″. Use black font, and don’t use any crazy colors.
  5. List experiences in reverse chronological order. Your jobs, education, and experiences should have the most recent listed first, and then progressing to the previous ones.
  6. Stay consistent. If you use bold, italics, bullets, or underlines for one type in your resume, use it for the rest of them. For example, if you bold a job title, bold the rest of them.
  7. Keep it easy to skim. Keep it all organized so the employer can get the gist of your experience without struggling.
  8. Check for typos. Don’t make an amateur mistake – check your resume several times!
  9. Read it from bottom to top after proofreading. This allows you to focus on each line, instead of flowing through the whole resume.
  10. Use active verbs. Use strong verbs in your points, and avoid “be”, “are”, “had/had”, and “is”.
  11. Have your contact information. Your resume is made just so you can get an interview. If you can’t be contacted or looked up, then your resume is useless. Have your email address, phone number, and even your street address. Include information such as your LinkedIn account (if you are shooting for a tech job, some people suggest having your GitHub information). Also, be sure you have your contact information at the top of all of your pages (you should really only have one or two pages).
  12. Show the outcomes of your work. Instead of just listing your activities, you could also show the outcomes of them.
  13. Explain any resume gaps. If there are gap years in your experience, or you didn’t address something, be proactive and mention it to the employer in the interview. Make sure you keep it positive, too. Otherwise, the employer will have his own idea as to why there is a gap, and that could have negative affects on your odds.
  14. Have a little personality. Find a few ways to let your personality show through your resume.
  15. Address the basics. Going above and beyond expectations is great, but show you meet them first. Show that you meet the basic requirements before showing your other skills and experiences.
  16. Use the XYZ formula for listing your accomplishments. It goes like this: “Accomplished [X], as measured by [Y}, by doing [Z]. Say what you accomplished, use a statistic to measure that accomplishment, and show what you did to reach it. This is all done in a relatively short sentence.
  17. Make it a PDF. Other formats aren’t impressive, and they can  be a hassle sometimes.

Don’ts for Writing Resumes

  1. Don’t use pronouns. Don’t use words such as “I”, “we”, “my”, “me”, or “our”, as those waste space and aren’t as objective.
  2. Don’t lie. That’s the worst way to advertise yourself. If you’re caught, it will look horrible. Even if you aren’t caught, you did something unethical, which isn’t a good start to a career.
  3. Don’t have an objective statement. If you find it absolutely necessary to have an objective statement, then go for it. Otherwise, save some space and write an introductory paragraph that talks about who you are.
  4. Don’t have big blocks of text. Bullets are the best. Keep it simple and concise!
  5. Don’t go on and on about your skills. Skills are great, but keep them short. Experiences are more important. Also, keep out basic skills that aren’t super impressive, like fluency in Microsoft Office.
  6. Don’t use filler statements. Don’t use useless statements such as team player, expert, communications skills, work ethic, or results oriented. Use something else more precise and more impressive, that isn’t already assumed of you.
  7. Don’t get too personal. Don’t mention your age, your marriage, your children, or your hobbies unless it is absolutely necessary or on topic.
  8. Don’t bring up confidential information. Mentioning clients or other private information could get your resume rejected. Set a good example, and only talk about what you know you can talk about.

Resources:

Want to learn more about crafting an amazing resume? Here are some great books:

Do you want your resume to get scanned and anaylzed? Here are two awesome resources:

Need some samples and templates? Here are some. Always find simple resumes if you can.

Want to learn more about taking action in the job you want? We have an article about that:

Read More:

https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/yale-career-experts-say-that-to-get-your-next-job-your-resume-should-always-have-these-5-simple-things.html

https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/microsoft-career-experts-say-that-your-resume-should-always-have-these-5-simple-things.html

https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/harvard-career-experts-say-that-to-get-your-next-job-your-resume-should-always-have-these-5-important-things.html

https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/there-are-3-kinds-of-resumes-top-recruiters-at-companies-like-amazon-google-say-they-only-want-people-who-use-format-number-3.html

https://www.thrivas.com/three-proven-ways-to-explain-resume-gaps/

https://www.thrivas.com/5-simple-elements-you-dont-want-to-leave-out-of-your-resume/

https://www.thrivas.com/avoid-these-10-phrases-on-your-resume-at-all-costs/