A Resume is your #1 Marketing Tool

A resume is the most important marketing materials during your job search! I don’t have to be the one to tell you but if you don’t have a resume, well you don’t really have a job search. Just based on that it’s no wonder resumes cause job searchers hours of grief each year. But not to worry I am going to give you five easy ways to instantly improve your resume today!

Resume writing grief is to be expected and you are not alone. In fact, you might be asking yourself, “did I miss anything” or “am I making a huge mistake”? Well, you probably did but that’s okay! Resumes don’t have to have everything, and they don’t have to be perfect! Resumes just have to sell you professionals skills and experience in a way that your audience wants to receive it. Your resume needs to grab their attention and keep it long enough for them to realize that you are their top candidate!

On the flip side, if you’re missing sections, which could shine the spotlight on your accomplishments, then you could be missing out on some much-needed recruiter's attention aka INTERVIEWS! That’s definitely not what we want.

So, as your personal career coach – I can’t have you missing out on interviews when there are so many easy ways to instantly improve your resume! So, I am going to tell you my top 5 items that you absolutely need to have on your resume but that you might have missed! 

An Objective Can Instantly Improve Your Resume

All resumes should have an objective! I have noticed recently that job seekers are leaving objectives off of their resume or they are using a summary instead. This is a major mistake! 

The objective is the best way to sell yourself on your resume because in your objective you can add a voice to your resume. In every objective you want to write who you are, what you do, what you’re looking for and what value you can deliver. There is nowhere else on your resume that you can directly address this with the hiring manager. 

Use this section to wow the reader by writing an objective that exactly lines up with what they are looking for in a candidate

Show off your Skills!

A clear and well-done skills section is the easiest ways to get immediate attention from your audience (the hiring manager or a recruiter). Not only is it simple to do well with a quick brainstorm of all of the skills you use daily, but it is extremely skimmable! This makes it easy for your audience to know if you’re their candidate or not.

When a recruiter first looks at your resume they aren’t reading it. They are only taking a quick glance at your resume to see if you have what they’re looking for. The fastest way to do this is to skim the skills section. If you have all the keywords they’re looking for, then they are going to spend a few more precious seconds on your resume.

More time on your resume vastly improves your chances of landing a phone screen or an interview.

Are You Highly Trained Talent?

Adding your Training is one way you can instantly improve your resume!

I bet you that all your education is listed on your resume (if not, make that item number 6), but did you add your training? Think about all the trainings you’ve been through that might be what I call job search relevant because sometimes it is super easy to forget! 

Have you attended any job or industry-specific training that might help you land the job? Did you take a marketing course or a Six Sigma Green Belt class? If you got a certificate for it, it might be something you’d want to list on your resume. If you’ve left that off of your resume because it’s not formal education, then you are missing out on interviews!  Remember to only include training that is relevant to the position you are applying for.

Can You Summarize That For Me?

Have you ever read through someone’s resume and thought… What does this even mean? Well probably not, but I have and so has every other recruiter on the planet.  What that usually that just means there was not enough context to a technical or job-specific bullet to help the recruiter understand what a job seeker was really trying to say. 

One of the best ways to overcome this issue is to list a short one-sentence summary of the position or job function under each work experience but before the bullets. This clears up any ambiguity or contextual information that don’t really fit in the bullet but help the reader understand more about your professional story.

Volunteer Your Way into a Job!

It’s not always the work experience that can get the candidate the position. Volunteering and charity work are just as important, especially if they show your leadership skills, your potential for growth or work ethic. It also shows what you value and how that may align with the company.

If your volunteering experience can position you as a leader, as top talent or top potential then you absolutely need to add this section to your resume right now! Make sure to list it just as you would your work experience, just in a different section.

Instantly Improve Your Resume Today, not Tomorrow!

So that’s it, 5 easy ways you can instantly improve your resume right now!  Remember, each section in your resume can make or break your job search. There is very likely a candidate that is probably less qualified than you but has a better-crafted resume. It’s my mission to make sure you don’t miss out and shine like the talented professional you are!

Everything in your resume is a key part of relaying your personal brand, mission, and narrative to the recruiter or hiring manager. These small edits can support you in doing this and of course, getting that interview!

Creating a Resume that Works:

If you still feel like you need more support in creating a resume that works for you and adequately portrays your professional story, you might want to enroll in my comprehensive resume guide called the Resume Roadmap.  The Resume Roadmap will outline everything you need to do to create the perfect resume. All you have to do is click the picture below to sign up. After you sign up, you’ll get instant access to the course.