Improving Your Resume Is Easier Than You Think

Have you ever felt that while your resume didn’t seem to be getting you the results you want on the job front, you’re clueless as to what you should do to make improvements? Sometimes, making improvements is about making little subtle changes while other times it’s about making a complete overhaul of your resume.

If you’re not sure how to make changes and don’t want to get professional help for writing a resume then you might consider the below tips for helping you make improvements. You never know, a few changes could take your resume a long way.

Include Industry-Specific and Action Keywords

One thing that your resume may be lacking is the right keywords for the job you’re seeking. Many companies use scanning software to pinpoint industry-specific keywords before even having a person read through the resume. So it’s a good idea to look through your resume to make sure that it has keywords that define your industry (i.e. tradeshows, PR, C++).

Also, it’s a good idea to use action words to describe your skills and accomplishments. For instance, instead of writing that you were “responsible for answering phones” you could write that you “answered phones and routed calls accordingly to 38 departments company-wide.” The action words “answered” and “routed” let employers know that you actually did your job and also how exactly you got it done.

Make Sure Your Formatting is Simple

Word processing programs often make it fun to utilize different fonts and bullet points, but you want to avoid too much complexity in your resume. You should need no more than two styles of bullet points and they should be consistent through the document. Also, you should only need two font styles (if that) in your resume – and they should only be used to define sections.

But most important, you want to make sure that your resume isn’t too cluttered. If you don’t have enough white space, the reader will not even want to look through it. It should be easy to scan with the naked eye – on a computer screen and even on a small mobile device.

Don’t Forget the Usual Suspects

If you don’t know what the usual suspects are then you’re probably forgetting to check your spelling, grammar and other typos. These issues are easy to overlook when editing your resume but are undoubtedly glaring errors when a hiring manager is looking over your resume.

You may not believe it, but more than one typo could result in getting your resume tossed before the employer looks at your qualifications. So don’t just read over your resume yourself, also have your friends and family read it over for errors. This way, you won’t be sidelined before you get into the running.

Writing resumes is an art. You have to know what the company you’re applying with is looking for, as well as how you can help them. The last thing you want is to have subtle issues get in the way of a great job opportunity. So take time to review your resume for improvements that could be made. You never know, those improvements could make the difference between being hired and sitting at home making more resumes.