How to makes your resume outstanding? First, I think a resume must have the basics to just stay in the competition. See my post on top 10 effective resume tips first. Assuming you have done that already on your resume, then an outstanding resume is one that is TAILORED t to the job you are applying. Yes, to stand out, you have to tailor your rsume for every type of job you are applying for and preferrably every single position if time permits.
Here are 4 additional ways to make your resume an outstanding resume.
- Add Relevant Key words:find out what are the key buzz words that are associated with the job you are applying. Go through the job posting and pick out key words they used and then try to fit those words in your resume. Companies today often do a search on key words for resumes before any humans look at it. An outstanding resume is one that is easy to read and describes your experience in words that fit the job description.
- Reposition Experiences: don’t make the recruiter do the work of linking how your experiences makes you a good candidate for the job. Do it for them in your resume. Look at the job you are applying and ask yourself what experiences are needed for that job. Then look at your resume and see what experience you have that fits. Be creative as long as you don’t lie. For example, a person with many years of consulting experience can still do a great resume for a product manager job. One of the skills a product manager needs is being able to own and drives the success of the product (i.e., budget responsibilities, setting strategic direction, marketing, etc…). A manager in a consulting firm has to run projects within budget, set strategic direction for clients. and possibly could also have experience developing a practice for the consulting firm. All could be reworded in the executive summary and details to stand out in the resume. Once you get the interview, you can continue to tell the same story.
- Leave out some: An outstanding resume does NOT need to include all your experiences. Be very light on the experiences or leave them out all together if they do not help you build your case. I have 6 years of experience in marketing and about 5 years in system integration work. For a marketing position, I probably devote 80% of my resume of my 6 years of experience and the rest on how the other 5 years is somehow relevant to that marketing job. I am not saying you can’t have any that are not relevant, but the majority should be somehow helping your build the case for why you are an outstanding candidate for this job.
- Warm lead: Doing the above will definitely increase your chance of standing out. Another excellent way outside of updating your resume is have someone within the company submit it for you. Time and time again networking is key to finding a good job. A “warm” lead to a job is always going to receive more attention and will make your resume outstanding as a result.
Good luck out there! I look forward to your comments. I am always in your corner.
-Lei
My friend Lei raises several valuable points about writing resumes. I read a snappy statement once that still rings true: a resume is a marketing piece, not a career obituary. Tell enough about yourself that will excite both the HR recruiter and boss to bring you in for a job interview. I would add a few other tips to help job seekers: * Add a job objective: A short line (10 words or less) that explains your job objective shows purpose, clarity and focus. Without specifying company names, this is the place to explain what type of position you desire… Read more »
These are great suggestions, guys! There are two points that I cannot stress enough.
– Don’t make your resume an alphabet soup, i.e. full of acronyms.
– Emphasize results with numbers, like increased sales by 20%. That will make them tangible, and real.
Awesome suggestions by everyone! I’ve been a corporate recruiter for 10 years now, and I wish I could say I see more resumes like yours. More often than not, I see resumes that don’t follow these fundamental key points. I hope more people discover this blog, and follow the invaluable advise provided by you fine people. The only other thing that comes to mind from a recruiter’s perspective is if a candidate has worked for a company that’s not well-known, then add a one-sentence blurb about it so a recruiter can surmise what industry the candidate has worked in and… Read more »
Just a quick note here about resume length. Since we all got some experience under our belt, our resumes can be longer than one page. However, it should still not be a laundry list of the things you have done. I would say 2 – 3 pages are fine.