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If you’re reading this, you already know that my website is called Figuring Out Now. I named it so because I wanted to create a space where I could share all of the knowledge that I came across in a way that was quick and easy. More specifically, I wanted to share the lessons I learned about things you have to experience, things not taught. Today we are covering one of those things, your resume.
When I was in High School, there was about a 3-day lesson on resumes, If you took the right teacher’s business class. Yet, you will probably write and rewrite your resume 3o times in a lifetime. They are the one-page representation of you. They determine whether you get the job! So why are we not briefed more on how to write a good one?
Also, I think we can all agree that there are some parts of growing up that just aren’t that fun. In my personal opinion resumes are one of those things. I remember being so excited when I created my first resume back in high school. I was all, ” ooh look at all the cool things I do and my accomplishments, blah blah blah.” Then over time, I would need to revise or add to my resume, which was saddening. Watching the underwhelming job history of a working college student replace “fun things.” Then, my post-college graduation resume became straight up boring. It became bland and never seemed to be what was needed to land that job that wants to pay entry level salary but requires 5 years experience* side eye*.
But not only was my work history not as fun, but my actual resume was boring. I mean black and white, bulleted text, just covering the essentials, all of it. So, you combine a boring, arduous process with something we aren’t even fully taught how to do. I think I can see why so many fall short on writing a good resume.
Fun fact: the average employer will only look at a resume for about 6 seconds! That is how long you have to make an impression! So obviously you want to maximize those 6 seconds to the best of your ability, right?
My goal is to give you some insight into how to quickly and efficiently make a kick-ass (do people still say that?) resume!
First, what NOT to do
- Use a pre-made template
- You can look up resume template online and Word and Pages both come with premade templates where you just fill in your information. These templates often don’t maximize their space or highlight the powerful parts of your resume. It’s best to just create one from scratch
- Forget your cover letter
- Your cover letter is the introduction to your resume, it’s what gets them to turn the page. You want your cover letter to be compelling and compliment your resume.
- Over personalize
- Do not include photos of yourself or talk too much about your personal goals. If you land a job interview and they ask you, this is the time to talk about yourself. Your resume is highlighting what needs of theirs that you can fulfill.
- Use first person pronouns
- You need to keep your point of view consistent. Meaning, don’t bounce between “I” and “she”. Avoiding pronouns altogether is better, leave the “I” to be inferred.
- Overshare or over exaggerate
- Believe it or not, a large percentage of people flat out lie on their resume. The last thing you want is an employer to catch you in a lie. Don’t over exaggerate your roles or skills. Also, don’t give irrelevant information. Stick to the facts. This also keeps your resume concise, remember you only have 6 seconds! Experts only suggest having more than one page if you are currently in a long term professional field.
- Leave out key information
- Pay attention to what you’re putting on your resume and make sure that all the key information is there. Don’t forget dates of employment or titles.
Where to place your FOCUS
- Contact information
- Always make sure your contact information is easily accessible and correct, you do want them to be able to contact you for the job, right?
- Education
- List your most recent education. Often jobs have requirements in a particular field and employers will look for this first. Don’t miss out on something you were qualified for because you didn’t list your information. If you are in the processes of obtaining a degree, make that known.
- Relevant experience
- You know the types of jobs you’re submitting your resume to. Make sure the jobs you list are relevant to that job. The employer looking to hire a writer isn’t interested in babysitting skills. Focus on stronger roles and roles that you held long term.
- Skills and achievements
- This is your time to put that extra bit of yourself in. This is where you can separate yourself from the pack. Highlight both relevant and unique skills, but be concise. Also, note any relevant achievements. You can also include times you were able to solve a work related issue or you completed a challenge in a unique way. Explain the challenge, what actions you took and the results you achieved.
- Keywords
- When you’re describing your previous roles or achievements, use the right keywords. Employers often run resumes through software looking for these keywords. Even if they do it old-school and read it, you want your words to evoke the right feeling. Make sure to use powerful words such these: Advanced, Upgraded, Increased, Organized, Implemented, Delegated, Supported, Motivated, Led, Trained & more. You can look some up. You want to convey that you can lead or work well with others without saying it in those words.
- Clean and Spacious, Readable fonts
- When you have everything on your resume, look at it and make sure it’s easy on the eyes. Don’t jumble words together or drag on with long blocks of texts(i.e. this blog post). Use fonts that are professional and readable, this doesn’t necessarily mean Times New Roman, you have other options.
Digital
More and more employers require you to upload your resume online. If this is the case, remember to do these three things.
- Save it under your name.
- Your resume will be coming in along with plenty of others, don’t let there be any confusion. When you save it, save it under your name so that it can be seen immediately.
- Links
- Don’t forget your social media or website links. If your resume is uploaded, having your links already accessible will make it easier for the employer to check you out immediately. Make sure the links are relevant and professional such as your LinkedIn account.
- PDF
- Save it as a PDF, especially if you use a different platform to create it. A PDF file ensures the conversion process doesn’t mess anything up.
When you THINK you’re done
Triple check to make sure your information is accurate and your grammar is correct. There are fewer things more damaging to your image than turning in a resume that is meant to be representative of you, with grammatical errors. Grammarly is a program that can triple check your errors. I used this throughout college to double check my papers and reports. It’s really easy to use and quick. Just click below and head on over. The 20 mins (that’s probably pushing it) it will take you to proofread will definitely be worth it in the long run.
Now, let’s be completely honest. Certain people just aren’t inclined to doing these types of things. There are also some of us who just plain don’t want to. That is okay! If you aren’t interested in rebooting your own resume, there are services that will write it for you. I will cover this in another post along with other tools to help you get on top.
Let it be known, I believe in you! I know you can get a boss resume and a boss job! Just take a few minutes to implement these tools and move your resume to the top of the stack.
This post was proofread by Grammarly