The U.S. is home to 157 million workers, and the figure is set to increase by 2 million by the year 2022. If you’re eager to join the U.S. workforce, 2021 could be your lucky year. However, before you land your dream job and earn a decent living, you first have to ace your resume.
Thanks to digitization and the internet, submitting your resume is a breeze with online resume applications. However, with easier submission comes increased competition, which isn’t great news. Thankfully, with the right resume tips, you can write a killer resume to stand out from the pack and get the job.
In today’s post, we’ll be highlighting a couple of resume writing tips to blow away your recruiters.
Use Metrics to Quantify Your Success
You can write about how great of a leader you are or how innovative you can be, but that won’t make you different from the rest. If you really want to stand out, let the numbers do the talking. Numbers jump off the resume page, and the best part is that they never lie.
Identify your department’s bottom line, whether it’s profit margins, sales volume, or even the amount saved. Quantify any achievement using actual figures and percentages. For instance, you could try something like,” implemented a budget plan that cut costs by 10%.”
Apart from the achievements, you can tell how many staff, customers or departments you were in charge of. This helps show the recruiter your weight of responsibility and your capability to handle it. It might also be a good idea to bolden your figures to make them pop.
Use Power Verbs to Highlight Achievements
Your resume must go into detail about how you helped solve problems or added value to your previous company. For the greatest effect, consider using power verbs like “initiated,” ” streamlined,” “resolved,” and the likes. These power words help give your statements a little oomph to capture the recruiter’s attention.
Target the Job in Question
Instead of writing a run-of-the-mill resume, write one that targets the particular industry you’re applying to. This means you should highlight skills, achievements, and responsibilities related to the job you’re trying to apply to.
You can try looking for keywords in the job posting and add them to your resume. Also, add a summary at the top of your resume that includes the most relevant accomplishments, skills, and other qualifications. If you want to kick it up a notch, consider adding a headline or resume title so recruiters can notice it.
Highlight Your Leadership Skills
No sane employer can turn down a great leader or team player. As such, do your best to highlight your leadership skills and show how much of a team player you are. Give examples of how your previous job required you to demonstrate these skills and how you managed to pull them off.
Use words that show you were in charge of a particular team, group or department. Some of these words include “led,” “mentored,” “collaborated,” “collectively,” and the likes. Such words show your leadership and teamwork capability without saying it directly.
Emphasize Your Awards and Recognitions
When it comes to resumes, it’s definitely okay to toot your horn, but in a more formal way. Highlight your most notable awards and achievements, and don’t forget to throw in a few of those power verbs. In your resume, include a heading for honors and awards where you can talk about all formal recognitions.
When describing your awards, remember to use words that show distinction and recognition. Some of these words include “selected,” “recognized,” “elected,” and the likes. If you have a few quality recommendations, ensure you also incorporate them in your resume.
Beef up your LinkedIn recommendations and add a link to your profile in your online application. Sometimes the employer might ask for written recommendations. If that’s the case, get your recommendation from people well conversant with your skills and accomplishments.
How to Write a Resume Correctly
There are plenty of ways to write a resume. However, here is a step-by-step guide on how to write it correctly.
Step 1: Contact Information
The very top of your resume should have your contact information. This contact information includes your name, physical address, email address, and phone number. Place this info on the top right margin to make it visible.
Step 2: Add a Summary and Professional title
Add a professional title followed by a summary. This summary should contain your previous work experiences, main skills, and a few accomplishments. The summary gives the recruiter an idea of the applicant.
Step 3: Work Experience and Achievements
The next step is to detail your previous work experience and your achievements. Clearly explain the roles you played at your previous jobs and how well you played them. Don’t be afraid to throw in a few figures to back up your words and to incorporate power words in the descriptions.
Step 4: Mention Your Leading Soft and Hard Skills
The fourths section should talk about your various soft skills and hard skills. As mentioned earlier, be sure to focus on only those that apply to your particular industry for them to be relevant. You can list these skills in point format to be easily readable.
Step 5: Additional Section
This is where you include additional content like certificates, languages, and volunteer work. Don’t go into too much detail; listing the said will be enough.
That’s pretty much how you write a proper resume. Be sure to proofread your resume before sending it out. Also, you might want to check out how to write a cover letter to have everything on lock.
Resume Tips That Never Fail
The above resume tips for 2021 should have you waiting for that company call in no time. However, ensure you write a proper resume with a professional cover letter for the best results. Other than that, we wish you all the best in your applications.
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