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When was the last time you took a good hard look at your resume? If you come to a blank, then it’s high time you give your resume a much-needed facelift.
You have a job that pays pretty well and you are fairly happy so why should you update your resume, right? If you are nodding your head complacently, then this is precisely the time to re-evaluate your resume! You need to know just how much you’ve accomplished so that you can be ready for that opportunity that’s just around the corner. Before you moan about it, a resume revamp doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, in just a few steps, your resume can reflect the better, brighter, more accomplished professional that you are!
Look At The Layout
What does your resume actually look like? Ignore the words for a moment and focus on the readability of your resume instead. Ask yourself if the layout is clear and concise. There are a few things you have to consider when it comes to layout.
TYPEFACE
Is the font easily readable? If you’re using Times New Roman, you might want to reconsider. Times doesn’t read well on screen and lacks typographic subtleties such as non-lining numbers. Because it’s available on virtually all computers and designed to be readable on-screen, try Georgia instead. At the same point size, Georgia appears larger than Times New Roman, so you’ll want to set the font size a point or two smaller. Just don’t go below 9 points. However, you are free to choose another typeface or even stick back to Times New Roman if you don’t like Georgia. Just take note on readability!
MAKE IT EASY TO SKIM
You have to keep in mind that your potential employers have more than a few resumes to go through. So make yours easy to read and easy to skim through. This means, your layout should give the readers some cues on what to focus on. And using bullet points, bold type and spacing to help break up the information on the page will do the trick.
REMOVE EXTRA INDENTATIONS
Next, reduce the number of indentations and if possible take them all out. While useful in outlines, too many indentations in a resume will cause your eyes to jump all over the page, destroying page harmony. What you should try to achieve is to have all text aligned to each other. The same goes to bullets and numbering as well. Replace any spaces after a bullet with a tab character. This is to ensure your whole page is neat as it’s all aligned making it easy on the eyes. You will be amazed how little changes like that can make a world of difference!
“You should not present a long list of your day-to-day duties and focus instead on the parts of your job that’s truly important.”
Be Careful With Your Content
POWER WORDS
Use strong action verbs to describe your job duties and accomplishments. You should not present a long list of your day-to-day duties and focus instead on the parts of your job that’s truly important. Highlight your leadership skills or successes that earn you recognition. For example, instead of writing that your responsibility is “involved in running a team of programmers and keeping projects on schedule,” try saying that you “manage a team that consistently meets deadlines.” This is sharp and to the point, ensuring your employer understands your capabilities.
NO JARGONS PLEASE
Keep in mind that the people who initially screen resumes often have only extremely basic technical knowledge, so avoid any jargons or short forms without explaining them. Don’t hide your strong points in language that no one outside your field can understand.
STRESS RESULTS, NOT RESPONSIBILITIES
Think about a health product that recently got you choosing it amongst the others. When you read the labels, does the complicated and long list of ingredients impress you to buy it or the benefits it gives you? For example: “Relieves tired eyes and improves eye sight” would do the selling more than some complicated scientific name of the herbs or vitamins responsible for that effect. Now, apply that logic to your resume. Don’t just say that you devised a new website and marketing strategy for the company. Point out that your website and marketing strategy reduces manpower expenses by over 50 percent, improved sales by 30 percent and therefore result in an increase of 80 percent customer satisfaction. Do you see the difference?
ASK SOMEONE TO READ IT
If you find someone who’s not from your field or industry to go through your resume you will achieve two important goals of an effective resume. If that person can read your resume and get a sense of what you do and why someone might hire you, your resume is definitely on the right track! Plus, with a pair of fresh eye, that person might even be able to proofread for you. So, there you have it – concise content and a mistake-free resume!
GRAMMAR, SPELLINGS AND THE LIKES
It’s always good to double check your spellings and grammar on your resume. Even though you might be applying for a non-writing job, it’s still important to make the proper impression. For example, “I believe poor team work will weekend (weakened) the organization.” You meant to say, “weakened” and because of that one mistake, your sentence sounds more like a joke than a leadership statement. So, read through your resume and go through each word. Remember, spell check can only do so much!
Presentation, Presentation, Presentation!
Now that you have gotten everything perfect, do make sure you check on the basics such as good printing (smudge printing just screams sloppy), proper quality paper (unless you are applying for a position in an amusement park, fancy paper is best left for friends) and a professional looking envelope if you are mailing your application. If you are mailing your resume, make sure you attached the correct document and checked with the other party if they received it.
With that in check, your resume is now ready for opportunities that might come your way!
Things to avoid if you want a good revamp on your
resume.
· Don’t lie to make yourself look better.
· Don’t get too carried away with the revamp, layout should still remain simple.
· Don’t think the longer your resume is, the better it is!
Source: https://news.zdnet.co.uk and http://writing-resumes.suite101.com
