Top 10 Ways to Rock Your Resumé
LifeHacker posted “Top 10 Ways to Rock Your Resume”, written by Whitson Gordon, on Mar. 5, 2011 and it already has over 115,000 views three days later!
- Start with a Big List, and Then Shorten It- Keeping your resumé brief is important, but one of the best ways to make sure your resumé is as good as possible is to start long.
- Know What Not to Include- Get rid of not-so-notable accomplishments, and anything outdated can probably go too.
- Avoid Overused Phrases- If you want to make your resumé stand out, you’re going to want to avoid canned phrases like “team player”, “strong work ethic”, and “innovative”.
- Quantify Your Accomplishments- Pick something quantifiable, something real and tangible.
- Find the Keywords Your Employer is Looking for and Use Them- HR folks are scanning them for relevant keywords.
- Strategically Tweak Your Dates of Employment- Strategically format your resumé to highlight the jobs, not the dates.
- Try a Visual Slideshow or Video Resumé- While many employers will prefer the simple, single-page list of accomplishments, lots of others would prefer to see your personality and accomplishments more in-depth through a slideshow or video resumé.
- Don’t Use it Until the End of the Interview Process- If you wait to hand in your resumé until the end, you’ll be forced to show yourself off in other ways, and keep your potential employers thinking about something else beyond the dull checklist of accomplishments.
- Use Multiple Resumés for Different Potential Jobs- Tailor your resumé to each specific job you apply for, and send a unique resumé out for each one.
- Proofread from the Bottom Up- One of the more interesting ways we’ve seen is to read it from the bottom up. This way, you’ll make sure you don’t skip over any sections, and will also help you see things from an angle other than the one you’ve already written and proofread it fifteen times.
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