Resumes are an Art Form- Not a Science.

.....Or at least that’s the title of an article I recently read online. I thought about it for awhile, what if a resume could be reduced to a science? What would a resume that guaranteed 100% success every time it was submitted, look like? (because that’s what some resume services seem to offer 😐)

Call me crazy but I don’t believe there’s a secret formula to resume success. That said, I think there are a few things you could do help improve your chances of being selected for an interview or at very least making it past the ATS(Applicant Tracking System).

For the average person…you read the job description, you look for key words, you add those to your resume and hope that the system flags you as a potential candidate. But stuffing your resume with keywords and MBA-speak just isn’t enough. Yes, you get picked by the program but so does every other person that used the very same method.

So, what can YOU do to stand out? Here are a few of the suggestions that I provide my clients with.

1. Spell-check Please!

Yes, the first tip is something you’ve probably heard and read before. Odds are you created your resume in MS Word, which means there is absolutely no reason why there should be any spelling errors. Take the time to read through your work, words like 'there' and 'their' are easily confused. So, there is no harm in having a friend or family member or eighty8careers (FREE editing for a limited time, remember?) take a second or third look at the resume before you submit it.

2. Format. Format. Format

We have seen so many resumes that are perfect in every sense of the word, except for the formatting. It really doesn’t matter how great your experience or content is, if it is presented to the reader in one giant paragraph. Highlighting the different sections of your resume and making your skills and experience jump off the page, while still looking professional can be a challenge. With research and design experimentation you could probably do it too(Or you know…you could just message us! We are experts at what we do :)

3. And then what happened?

...Is a question I used to ask, after every page in the book that my mother (ever so patiently) read to me as a child. Keeping your resume compelling, is crucial when you have a real live human scanning it. The average recruiter scans a resume for just 6.25 seconds before moving on. Here’s hoping that in those 6 seconds, the recruiter sees something in your resume that grabs her attention and encourages her to reach out to you.

4. Wake me up, Please!

Lastly, is a tip I picked up from my husband. If you’re emailing in a resume, try to press the send button first thing in the morning. Yes, that could mean hitting send at 7 or 8am, but think about it this way- your resume will be the first e-mail or one of the first few emails that the recruiter receives for the day. The alternative, after all, is having your resume sit in an email inbox some where between a ‘meeting request’ and a ‘lunch appointment reminder’. Alternatively, you can set up draft email and then schedule your email to automatically send, first thing in the morning.

The point here is, if you’re submitting a resume by e-mail-the earlier the better.

To end this blog post I’d like to re-examine the title of the article again. When the author of the original article wrote ‘Resumes are an Art Form’ he had a point. Resumes, after all, are a representation of you. So the question is- how do you want people to see YOU?

Let’s assume you have no spelling errors and you’ve written out your experience in the most compelling, clear and concise manner that you can muster. That still leaves the layout, the design and the over-all feeling that you’re trying to convey with 2 pieces of paper to deal with...which can be a lot to worry about!

I truly believe, your resume needs to reflect who you are, your personality and at the very least your desire for the position.

BUT HEY, if all of that seems like too much work for you…you can always CONTACT US and we’ll be happy to help!

Thanks for reading this everyone! Happy Monday!

#resumewriting #resumetips #resumedesign