What’s the hardest part of writing a resume? It’s writing the darn thing. You can talk to all the experts you want and read all the literature available but if you can not decide what goes into your resume and how to write it then you’re for the lack of a better word, Lost.
Thus, this article will be taking a close look at points you need to remember while writing your resume that everyone must know.
Keyword Usage
Keywords in resume writing are those words, phrases, or even sometimes sentences that Employers are looking for in an applicant’s resume that they may consider for hirability. This sounds more complex than it is as the keywords that you are looking for can be found within the job listing itself, in the job description section. These are the Work Histories, Skill-Set, Certifications, etc that an employer needs to see on a resume that would be eligible for selection.
So, to use these keywords just see which ones match your professional portfolio and write them down respectively and accordingly. Do not, however, overuse these keywords as this practice does not yield any positive results and makes your resume look tacky, and makes it lose any semantic and Syntactic sense. Instead, sprinkle them around and incorporate them into your resume, naturally.
Showcase Creativity
Now that we’ve decided what goes into your resume let’s talk a little about how it goes into your resume. You’ve looked through the job listing and identified the keywords that you want to incorporate into your resume. Seems simple enough right? Not quite, you have to understand that just like you there will be hundreds, if not thousands of other resumes, applying for the same job with the same keywords listed and that will just make your resume disappear into the crowd.
Therefore we advise you to get creative with your resume writing. Don’t just list keywords willy-nill. Instead, use your past experiences and instances describing the use of the skills and work histories to further elaborate your story. Make it interesting and thus add value to you and your resume.
One-Page rule
Many experts agree with this rule and almost the same disagree but we all agree that you should keep your resume brief and relative to the desired job. The one-page rule of resume writing is self-explanatory and it states “ A resume should not exceed beyond a page”, and that is true for 90+% of cases. So, if you’re reading this article this probably applies to you.
HR Managers and Employers are flooded with hundreds if not thousands of resumes each day and to go through them all is definitely a chore, now imagine doing that but every resume is 3 to 5 pages long. Sounds like a nightmare right? So, not only is the one-page rule practical if an HR Manager or Employer sees a resume that is just one page after going through mind-numbing autobiographies a one-page resume will seem like nothing short of a sight for sore eyes. This practice automatically curries favor with the employer and brings you one step closer to landing your dream job.
How much experience should you add?
Well since employers prioritize Work Experience above all else it stands to reason that the more work experience the better the resume right? Wrong. As tempting as it may be to fill up your resume to the brim with work histories to impress the employer the practice could have an adverse effect. Like we said before employers do not enjoy going through lengthy resumes as it takes up too much time. So, the simple rule is to include only the work experience you’ve accumulated in the past 10 years and which is related to the desired job, everything else gets negated.
Bullet points
Bullet points look great on a resume they are quick and easy to identify and impart necessary information all the while not taking up much space. That being said too many or too few bullet points can visually destroy a resume. This is why it is recommended that when listing work histories keep the number of bullet points between 3 to 5 and for the skills sections 6 to 8.
You are a professional, act like it
Do you remember that email address you made in high school that went something like because video games were your life? Yeah, get rid of that. You are a grown-up and it’s time to get yourself a grown-up email address. This is the email you should use in your resume. Even though novelty email addresses are fun they are not something you want to project when looking for a job, believe us you’ll thank us later.
Proof-Read
Finally, you have to realize that you are human and nobody gets it right the first time around for most endeavors in life. The same goes for resume writing, your first draft no matter how much you want to believe it most likely won’t be perfect. This is why you need to recheck your work and pick out the small errors you may have made and correct them or identify shortcomings and make improvements. You can also ask friends and family to take a look at your resume and get their feedback and subsequently make adjustments where you see fit.
Resume Templates and Resume Builder
Finally, every resume writer should not be afraid to use tools to help them through the entire process, namely, Resume Templates and a Resume Builder.
Resume Templates
Resume Templates are simply skeleton resumes that lack any content. Resume Templates have all the characteristics of a resume which are design, format, and headings, minus the material in the middle. All jobs are different and just like them all resumes should be as well even if the same person is creating them. This practice is called creating targeted resumes and can be very exhausting, especially if you plan on applying for more than one job at a time and creating an individual resume from scratch. In this instance Resume templates are real like savers because by using resume templates users can rest at ease that no matter what the content of the resume at least they will be safe on the technical side of things.
Resume Builder
A resume builder is a fully automated online resume-making system, that after taking a few basic details from users guides them in making their resume. A resume builder not only provides its users with resume templates and structure but also helps them come up with the content for the resume, depending on the industry the applicant plans to apply to.
MyResumeLift Resume Builder offers a resume builder that is user-friendly and offers its users a choice of multiple ATS-optimized resume templates that they can pick and choose from. The MyResumeLift Resume Builder is an excellent service that you can use to make multiple Targeted Resumes in practically no time and land that dream job you always wanted.
