A resume plays an important part to get you hired and writing a good resume can be a little hard at times. If you don’t have prior experience writing resumes or applying for jobs, this guide will surely help you a lot.
Although the internet is flooded with the best resume builders, that help you create one for yourself in a couple of minutes, after all, you have to pick the blocks yourself and decide what information should be displayed on the resume.
We are listing the best tips to writing a good resume that outshines you as an applicant, so without wasting much time, let’s get started.
10 Tips for Writing A Good Resume
1. Introduce yourself and tell why you’re worth hiring
The first and foremost thing you need to do is introduce yourself. Who are you? What’s your name and profession? Tell why you’re worth hiring in the first place, it will give a good impression for those who’ve just seen your resume.
This can be done by defining what skills, talents, and experiences you have. Write them in a way that it looks catchy and makes the recruiter/hiring manager curious!
You can also list your education after this, but some prefer to put it on top. Also, learn the art of using appropriate formatting while arranging things. Employers will definitely notice if they’re just thrown around carelessly!
2. Set up your resume with all key information (name & address)
Now let’s get down to the basics; make sure you’ve given every detail like your name, address, and contact details at the very top of your resume.
Every hiring manager is aware of this rule and won’t hire any applicant who doesn’t give their complete details at first glance. Make sure you’ve included your email id as well (especially if the job requires some application via their website).
3. Tailor your resume to each and every job position
This may not be necessary for some, but it’s best to tailor your resume according to the specific details of a given job role that you’re interested in.
You can give examples (relevant ones) from previous work experience and try to highlight those skills which match what they’re looking for at this time.
It will help them know why they should hire you over others and make you stand out more effectively!
If you have relevant certificates, training programs or degrees from relevant courses, it would also be a great advantage to mention these if they match what’s being advertised.
4. Add your interests and achievements
Some employers prefer to hire applicants whose hobbies match with their workplace culture, so it’s best to add information about the things you’re interested in, even if they’re not related to your field of work.
This will reflect that you have a balanced lifestyle and are ready to take on any challenge that comes your way. Moreover, mentioning relevant achievements also shows how capable you are at whatever task is assigned!
It’s always good to mention everything in this section, but make sure there’s no repetition or irrelevant details included – hiring managers won’t bother reading pages long resumes after all! So try giving only the most important pieces of info.
5. Highlight what makes you the best candidate
After your job skills, education and interests are taken care of, you need to tell why you’re the best applicant for this particular role.
It’s usually done by mentioning any awards or achievements that belong to you – it shows diligence on your part! You can also give details about what makes you better than others in this field, but make sure they’re not just opinions – back them with facts and figures wherever possible.
That shows the interviewer that you mean business!
6. Focus on your career goals
It may sound too ambitious at first, but mentioning where exactly do you want to go next after getting hired might help impress your hiring manager/interviewer.
Most people want someone who knows where he is heading towards so putting down what you aim to achieve in your career will definitely help you stand out.
Things like ‘I want to climb up the ladder of success’ may be clichéd sometimes, but it does get the point across!
This is also a good chance for you to tell why this particular company suits your needs and goals, so go ahead and mention that as well.
Hiring managers always look for candidates who know what they’re looking for and it reflects his/her personality positively if they can explain their choices clearly.
7. Write about yourself in an easy-to-read way
Stay away from writing long sentences or paragraphs which may confuse hiring managers – such things don’t matter much unless you’ve got remarkable and education under your belt.
It’s much easier to memorize short sentences or words since hiring managers often rotate their duties (and usually don’t read resumes in detail) – keeping this in mind, try having bullet points instead of full-fledged texts – it will make your resume easy to read and memorable.
Long paragraphs may also cause problems with formatting, especially if you’re using an older version of Microsoft Word (can’t highlight text which is inside a paragraph). Keep the formatting simple so that there aren’t any issues later on!
8. Keep it short and sweet
Nobody likes reading verbose text which doesn’t help emphasize the main points – that’s why your resume must be written as concise as possible.
You can always add more information later on, but keep the first draft relatively short so that you don’t overcrowd it with useless info.
If there are any details missing from your resume, don’t despair! Just mention them in a cover letter and attach it to the end of the document so hiring managers can see what exactly they should expect and read through your resume.
Remember: The goal is not to write ‘the perfect resume’ but to get an interview call for a job interview – if you ace that, everything else will follow automatically!
Your resume is just a step in that direction, so keep that in mind when you write it.
9. Stay away from clichés and buzzwords
If you’re trying to apply for a job as a ‘creative thinker with a knack for new ideas’, don’t expect your resume to be appreciated by hiring managers!
They will only see through your obvious attempts at impressing them and they’ll most probably throw your resume in the trash can without giving it another look.
Instead of using fancy words, focus on telling what makes you special – if you’ve got any good qualities that suit the vacant position, put them down instead of going for empty phrases or clichéd statements.
You can also use action verbs to replace weak phrases, as they have a better impact on the reader.
Graduating from a well-known school or having worked at a small company might seem impressive to you, but hiring managers learn to disregard such things as common and ordinary things which don’t make any difference!
Remember: You can impress them only if you don’t overdo it and instead focus on giving clear and concise information without bragging about what you’ve done in your life.
10. Proofread and edit before sending out resumes!
It’s not enough to just type up your resume – it needs proper proofreading for grammar, typos, or spelling mistakes (or whatever else it may be).
Make sure that there are no errors by reading through the resume multiple times – hiring managers are used to seeing perfect resumes, so if yours isn’t one, you’ll be sure that it will be thrown away!
After you’re done proofreading your resume, have someone else read through it too – just in case there are things that may have been overlooked by you.
Only after being certain that nothing needs changing can you send out your resume to hiring managers – make sure that all contact details are correct and reachable or your resume might only end up in the trash bin.
Conclusion
Ready for job hunting? All of these tips were given by professionals who’ve worked for many years in various fields connected with HR management and recruitment – they know exactly what makes a good resume stand out among others! If you take their advice into account
