The Must-Haves on your Resume

Your resume is one of the most important documents that will propel your growth as a professional. Not only does a strong resume document your background as part of your professional dossier, it also unveils your skills to potential recruiters.

Landing your dream job starts with polishing up your resume. The look and feel of the traditional resume is undergoing a lot of change as recruiters, headhunters and even candidates find creative ways to present themselves. It is not all that uncommon to even see a video or an infographic resume in the world of recruitment.

Competition can be tough. It is your resume that will give you the slight edge, help you stand out, and get your shortlisted. How? Let’s look at a few must-haves for your resume.

Restrict the length of the resume. 

No matter what your experience is, the length of your resume should be limited to two or, at the most, three pages. The reason is skimmability. The recruiter must, in less than 10 seconds, get an insight into your skill, experience, and the kind of work you handled in the past. A tip to do this is to highlight keywords related to your areas of expertise that can grab eyeballs. As you can imagine, the most important keyword is your desired job title.

Emphasize your job roles and responsibilities. 

This is probably the first thing recruiters want to see on your resume. It tells them that you are cut out for the job and you are a serious candidate. A description of the skills you use in your current role helps to establish how well you are qualified for the new role. These are your “selling points.” A mere listing of experience is not sufficient to establish credibility with the recruiter.

List your accomplishments and the impact on your role and hence the company. 

Related accomplishments and the impact on the company (e.g., business or revenue, stakeholder feedback, reputation, market sales) go a long way in underlining your efforts. Accomplishments can demonstrate that you have helped the business move the needle. Metrics are a key part of the narrative.

Ensure perfect spelling and grammar. 

Misspellings can be an instant turn-off for a recruiter. Precision and accuracy have great value for business. Small errors such as improper punctuation can detract the recruiter, even if your resume is backed by strong content. To ensure an error-free resume, reach out to friends or family and seek their feedback on both the narrative and the text. Use online tools that scan for errors. Aim for consistency in the narrative, accurate use of words, and simple formatting.

Besides consistency in roles and tenure, the way your skills are projected is key to landing a dream call from the company you want to join. Ensure content on the resume also matches your related social media profiles.

Do not hesitate to include your Affiliations and Certifications. 

Listing them boosts your profile. It showcases your commitment to your field and that you have the ability to go above and beyond your basic education to stand out among your peers.

Have your contact details built-in.

Yes, you read it right. Missing phone numbers, email addresses or LinkedIn profiles can amount to missed opportunities! Recruiters sometimes find it easier to contact you to have an open dialogue than read through the resume. Make it easy for the recruiter to contact you. Including your up-to-date social media profiles that are relevant to the application, with LinkedIn first on this list, is key to being shortlisted.

With the above taken into consideration , you can still use sites like these that give you free templates that you can use as a foundation to build the above on.

Or for a more personal touch contact us here so we can tailor your resume to you , and to the job your applying for.