Signs that your resume is ready to be submitted!
A winning resume is exactly that. It can win you your dream job!
With a bit of care, attention to detail and a little touch of know-how, you can impress every single time you submit your resume. Below are a few indicators that you’ve got it just right:
You must highlight key responsibilities and unique selling points to differentiate yourself in your resume. Crucially though, make sure you include not just your responsibilities, but your success at achieving them.
You’ve sold your achievements and successes.
Make sure that you don’t beat around the bush. If you can share facts and figures to show your achievements or written feedback, be sure to include it in your resume. But it is also important to be brief and to the point.
Highlighting your key responsibilities and unique selling points is a key factor in being able to differentiate yourself from others in your resume. It is crucial to make sure that you include not just your responsibilities, but your success at achieving them.
Make sure your job responsibilities relate to the job ad you are replying to.
It is imperative that your resume is tailored to each specific job. Look at the key criteria of the role and make sure you drop those phrases into your resume.
The most valuable commodity a candidate can have is relevant and relatable work experience. Using key words and phrases from the job specification is one way to highlight how your skills and experience match those required and desired for the role.
The language that you use is active and not passive.
“I did” rather than “I was part of”. “Managed” rather than “was asked/recruited to manage”.
Active language such as “I increased sales and profitability” or “I overhauled the entire department”, grabs recruiters & employers’ attention.
You use your skills to give back to society.
Whether you’ve done one-off or continuous volunteer work in the community be sure to list it on your resume – especially if it uses any of the skills in the key criteria. Explain in a few words what you have done and what you learned from it.
This does not need to be a very big section on your resume. One or two bullet points about volunteer experience speaks to your character and will suffice.
You are easy to contactable.
Recruitment Consultants and employers are time poor. If you’re easy to contact you’ve got a greater chance of securing an interview with your desired employer.
You must make sure that you include the basic information in your resume such as your telephone number, email address and, where applicable, social media channels. Be sure to have these updated regularly.
Include your Education:
If you have qualifications, completed relevant industry courses, certificates or training then highlight them on your resume.
Again, not a lot of detail is required here. Include the basics such as the educational institution you studied through, the course completed, and the year you completed it.
It has been reviewed, reviewed, and re-reviewed.
Most candidates aren’t Pulitzer Prize-winning writers. Don’t be scared to ask friends, family, and peers to review your resume and give their honest feedback.
When you think you’re finished take a break and read your resume one final time. It’s much easier to see typos, mistakes, and clunky sentences with a set of fresh eyes. If you’re in doubt about anything you’ve written, rewrite it- Confidence in your resume is key as this is piece of paper is your initial selling tool.