The first thing that decides how soon you are going to have an interview with a recruiting manager is your resume. Whether you are looking to land a new job or you want to change your career stream, the first and foremost thing is to have your resume shortlisted.
Each
recruiter follows the different benchmarks to shortlist candidates, but all of
them aim at short listing of resumes that seem to be worth their weight in gold
to their organisations. You must have written a resume for a couple of times if
this is not your first job search, but it may not be as impressing as should
be.
You
all know that you need to add qualification, skills and work experience to your
resume to allow an employer to know what you know and how you can benefit their
organisation. Yet, you often face difficulties to have you resume shortlisted
by recruiters and employers.
If
you want to grow in your career, you need to ensure that your resume has enough
strength to drive attention from reputed companies. Here are some of the tips to
write an impressive resume.
Choose
the format for your resume
Before
you choose a particular format, you should research online. There are generally
three types of formats: chronological, functional and the combination of both.
The most common format is chronological in which you explain your resume
objective, then professional experience and then skills and qualification.
However,
it is not necessary that you need to follow this format only. If you want to
emphasise your skills, you should prefer a functional resume. If you are
looking to change your career stream, you should try to prepare a resume in a
functional format.
This
is because your skills (how you find suitable for a particular role in a
particular industry) play an essential role than your experience (where and how
long you worked).
Write
a career objective
A
career objective should be in two-to-three lines that will help an employer
quickly analyse your skills and experience. Even if you are changing your
career stream, you need to mention a career objective because it gives you a
direction to grow.
However,
make sure that the career objective is different from the one you wrote for
your previous career stream. Try to relate your skills to ensure the employer
finds you suitable for your new job. This is the first thing that a hiring
manager will read in your resume, and if this is off beam, you will not get
shortlisted.
Be
savvy about keywords
Of
course, you are not alone who is in a job search, especially during the
pandemic time when a large number of people have lost their jobs. To get a call
from a recruiter, you need to ensure that your resume ranks well when they
search using a particular keyword.
So
before posting your updated resume, you should read job postings that interest
you and find out what kind of keywords they have used. Include those keywords in
your resume wherever relevant.
If
you have the skills that the job poster has mentioned in the job description,
you can add them in your resume. This will increase the chances of being shown up.
As a result, different employers will approach you.
Filter
unnecessary information
According
to research, hiring managers hardly spend more than five seconds to analyse a
resume. Therefore, you must keep it as brief as possible, ensuring that you do
not miss critical information. It is a must to include qualification, skills
and professional experience, but make sure that it is relevant to your profile.
For
instance, if you are looking for a job in the administration sector, you do not
need to show teaching experience, for example, that you had under your belt at
the beginning of your career. This is extremely important if you are switching
your career. Try to highlight information that will make it relevant to your
employer with a particular job profile.
Highlight
important achievements
You
all often mention your roles in a professional summary. Instead of listing all
of your duties in that section, you should target your professional
accomplishments for each job. Highlighting them separately from your career
summary will help recruiters quickly analyse your suitability for the role you
are applying for. Further, it will ensure the quality of learning in the
workplace that employers must look into resumes.
If
you are looking to get a new job or you are looking to change your career
stream, make sure that you have updated your resume, and this is as much
attractive as possible. Make sure that you have written an impressive career
objective and highlight all skills that you have and are relevant to your job
profile.
Many students fund their education with student loans in Ireland and then start their career. Of course, you do not have the experience to show in your resume, but make sure that you have skills and some internship certificates that prove your eligibility for a specific job role.