Finding success during a job search can be a frustrating and drawn-out process. Not only do you need to prepare yourself for rejection when you are unable to land a job, or even an interview, but you must also work time and time again to find the right job to apply for, fill out and submit an application, and then prepare for and undergo an interviewing process. Even your maximum effort in these areas won’t guarantee success.
For this reason, it is important that you decrease your margin for error and increase your chances of success by crafting a strong resume. This is especially important if you have been in search of your ideal employment situation for some time but have been unable as of yet to be offered an interview. Often when this is the case, it is because your resume isn’t as strong as it should be.
Here are a few things that you can do right now to improve your resume to make yourself a better candidate for the next job you apply for.
Start With Appearances
Print out a hard copy of your resume and take a good look at it. How does it appear at first glance? If you were a hiring manager, would you think that this document was crafted with the appropriate amount of care and attention to detail? What would you assume about the person who wrote it?
These might sound like tedious or senseless questions, but you need to bear in mind that the individual reading your resume will most likely have never met you in person before. Your first and only chance to show the kind of worker that you are is via your resume.
Start by searching for creative resume templates that will help yours stand out in a professional way. Make sure it is broken up with bullet points or numbering to make it easier to read and more aesthetically appealing. Don’t go overboard with things, though. You want to stand out in a positive way as opposed to submitting a document that is too busy looking or confusing to read.
Pay Attention to Detail
When it comes to the actual content of your resume, it is the finer details that will make yours stand out. While your education and experience is what it is, these points will likely be quite similar to those belonging to the other candidates applying for the same position.
Take the time to review the job listing on the company’s website that you are applying to. Pick out any keywords from the description that you can incorporate into your resume to make the content align better with what they are searching for in a viable candidate. Use whatever space you have to briefly expand on how your experience matches the qualities they are looking for.
As always, other details like spelling and punctuation are significant too. While most hiring managers are fine to overlook one or two random mistakes, resumes that are full of such errors will quickly be discounted.