Unless you are going old school with your job search and doing all your networking in person, your resume is the first and maybe only impression that a potential employer is going to have of you. As you can imagine, this puts a lot of pressure on that single piece of paper, and you have to make crafting your CV a top priority with some updated resume tips. Whether this is your first time competing for employment or it’s just been a while since you’ve made revisions to this critical application component, now is your chance to make your resume a real stunner. If you avoid a number of common faux pas, you could make your modern resume a masterpiece that would have all kinds of recruiters knocking on your door.
Specify your experience
Thanks to the magic of the Internet, people are able to apply to jobs in a matter of a couple of clicks. While this can be convenient, it also means that employers receive a constant bombardment of resumes and they can only dedicate a matter of minutes – if not seconds – to skimming your credentials. Bearing this in mind, you have to be strategic with your CVs. Mashable recommends that you go about this by getting specific about your experience so recruiters can gauge the caliber of your skills with a single glance.
The source explained that oftentimes, job seekers tend to lump all of their credentials under one generic heading for “work experience.” Although putting every position in this category may not be incorrect per say, you could be passing up a prime chance to stand out from the stacks of other applications. Rather than sticking everything under one heading, you should consider breaking them into subcategories with more detailed descriptions, depending on the job for which you’re applying, so HR reps will be able to get a better idea of your professional profile from one quick scan. For example, if you’re showing interest in an Online Marketing job at a University, you may want to have “higher education” as a category.
Cough up some numbers
Most people would write a resume like this: “Online Marketing Manager at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.” Better would be to say: “Spearheaded the strategy and implementation of lead generation best practices. Through a series of A/B tests across paid search, landing page, and email marketing campaigns, leads grew 65% over a 6 month period.”
Sure you can tell recruiters you have lead generation experience from your last job, but there is room for doubt without supportive proof points. Hiring Managers and HR reps could be wondering if it was just 1 campaign you managed or if lead generation was your full focus that you saw from beginning to end with reported success metrics.
For this reason, you should be as in-depth as possible, citing facts and figures when you can. If employers are able to look at quantifiable experience, they will have a clear picture of you are as a candidate and what you could offer to their company. Ultimately, this may win you an interview – and who doesn’t want that?
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