6 Things to Remember Next Time You Update Your Resume

Picture this: One day you are browsing job opportunities when you come across the perfect job posted on your dream company’s website. You immediately begin imagining yourself achieving success in that role. So, you decide to begin the application process and pursue your dream. After some hard work and careful tailoring, you take one look at your resume and feel as though any hope that you had has been sucked out of you. We all know the struggle, but this all too familiar feeling for job seekers doesn’t have to be your reality. Here are six things to help you tailor your resume to avoid ever experiencing that dreaded feeling again.

1.       Organization – this is something that I really want to emphasize. Recruiters want to be able to take one look at your resume and have a pretty good idea of who you are and what you know. They should be able to craft a quick timeline of when and where you worked, so organizing your experiences in chronological order is a must. Recruiters are busy, busy people and they don’t have the time to research every single candidate that comes across their desk. Do recruiters, and yourself, a favor and make your resume organized and easy to read.

2.      Relevance – this point is extremely important to a lot of recruiters across all industries. They want to scan your job experience and know what skills you have gained that are applicable to the position they are working to fill. This shows them two things. First, you are qualified and would be successful if filling the role was strictly based on capabilities. Second, you read the carefully crafted job description and applied your reading comprehension skills to align your abilities with those that they seek. You should always use keywords from the job description when reporting your experiences and skills. The recruiters included these words because they describe exactly what their organization is looking for. Using these words will catch their eye right away and it will give them the ability to quickly determine if you are a candidate that can fill their need. If you match the profile they outlined, don’t hesitate to impress them by using your resume to show what you have learned throughout your career and why that makes you a good fit for their organization.

3.       Tenure of previous positions – when a company is hiring a new employee to join their team, they want to make sure that this is not a temporary solution. You may not know it, but companies pay a lot of money for every new employee that they hire. Also, there are a lot of tasks to be completed by human resources, recruiting, tech services and a number of other departments to help new employees hit the ground running on day one. This is why it is important to recruiters that the resume on their desk showcases a candidate with stay power. They are looking for a person that is a good fit and someone who will buy into their organization’s mission. They want someone willing to work hard to help their new teammates achieve success for the company.

It has been said that younger people entering the workforce, or millennials as they are so often called, are hopping from one job to the next every year or so. This is not the issue that we are addressing. A year or two is enough to make an impact on an organization for any individual that is working hard. The issue that recruiters have is when a candidate is consistently holding positions for a year or less. This shows that this person is one of two things: easy to let go or that they have difficulty fitting into company culture.

4.      Technical jargon – this is particularly important to our recruiters here at Daugherty Business Solutions as they are searching for the top developers and program managers, but it is applicable across a number of other industries. In a resume, an applicant should be using the terms that they would use once they were placed in the position. The use of technical jargon demonstrates an understanding beyond surface level. Using these terms when explaining what you did to achieve success in past roles is crucial to showing that you have a deep understanding of industry best practices.

5.       Duties AND Accomplishments – the use of technical jargon relates closely to the next thing recruiters are scanning for: duties and accomplishments. Hiring teams are looking for the right wording to describe what you did, but also what your actions led to. It is great when a candidate lists their duties on a resume, but for a hiring manager who is familiar with a position, this isn’t news to them. For example, a recruiter is looking at resume after resume to fill a business analyst role and they all simply list what these candidates did in the past when they held the same exact role. This is not helpful. A candidate that simply lists duties performed does not stand out. The person reviewing your resume wants to know why the resume on the left is more effective at completing the required duties than the resume on the right. Don’t just tell, but show AND tell.

One thing that I tell people is that it is important to have a running list of your accomplishments. I document every single role that I fill and who I placed in that role. I keep a record of my accomplishments at work so that I can simply pull my list when I am updating my resume. It is important to keep these records, but also to update your resume annually so that you don’t forget all of the great things that you did throughout the year. I update mine after the first of the year – choosing a holiday makes it easier to remember when it is time for your annual resume update. The number one factor for a future of success is a history of success. Don’t forget wins you have had when it comes time to highlight them.

6.      Spelling – this is a big one for a lot of recruiters. Sure mistakes happen, but seriously? Computers have spell check, so hiring teams know you were just being careless if there are big mistakes. However, spell check is not enough. I repeat, spell check is not enough. If you turned in work while you were a student and it had errors, you lost points. Things didn’t change that much when you received your diploma. When you submit a resume with mistakes you are demonstrating that you are too lazy to review your work, you don’t really care about the position you are applying for or you don’t know how to spell. None of these three reasons are positive ways to be seen by someone you want to offer you a job.

These characteristics of a great resume are just the tip of the iceberg for job applicants. Ensuring that you focus on these six things will help your resume stand out from those that have mistakes or aren’t visually appealing. You will make it past the first rejection round. However, it is also important to think about what you can do to your resume to help it truly stand out from the rest of the candidates. You want a recruiter to see your clean, clear and concise resume and notice it because it offers something that the others don’t. Be careful to avoid mistakes, but also get creative. Grab the recruiter’s attention and peak their curiosity.