If you’re looking to climb the corporate ladder or change the direction of your career, then you know how important the interview process is. Knowing how to present yourself well, speak with confidence, and project a professional, capable image is essential to acing the interview. However, all of these skills are useless unless you know how to write a resume that will get you in the door for that interview in the first place.
In today’s competitive job market, each person who is hiring likely reviews a huge number of resumes. In order for your resume to be one of the few that doesn’t end up in the shredder, you need to make sure it stands out from the rest. Read on to learn how to create a resume lets your future employer know you’re exactly what they’re looking for.
Keep it Clean: The visual presentation of your resume is very important, as it’s the very first impression you make. Try not to cram in too much, and make the format cleaner and easier to understand visually by using different formats to break up different types of information (e.g. bold, italics, bullet-points, etc.).
What Makes you Great? Don’t simply describe what you did at each job; include specific accomplishments. Listing job duties is important, but accomplishments not only tell your future employer what you did, but how great you were at it.
Avoid Meaningless Adjectives: Many applicants will use adjectives like “creative,” “disciplined,” or “innovative,” but these words mean nothing on their own. Your resume should be written so that your accomplishments speak for themselves. Anyone can say they are an “effective marketer with great people skills.” Saying that you “increased the company’s client population by 43% during your employment” is far more impressive and concrete.
Proofread, Proofread, Proofread! Your future employer only has this one page on which to base his or her opinion of you. If it’s riddled with errors, it is almost certainly going to be tossed aside without a second glance. Go over your resume carefully for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. If possible, have a trusted friend, family member, or colleague read it over as well.
Ready to learn more? Check in with us again next week for Part 2, where we’ll give some great tips on sending your resume in a way that gets a response!
Give us a call and see how Corporate Speech Solutions can take your communication skills to the next level! Call us at 212-308-7725 or send us an e-mail at jayne@corporatespeechsolutions.com to learn more. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have!
If your communication skills are holding you back from professional success and you want to make your communication skills your most powerful professional tool, make sure to pick up a free copy of my e-book “Communicate with Clarity and Confidence!” by subscribing to our newsletter community on our website. In this free resource, I break down the myriad factors that contribute to confident communication and guide you through how to use each aspect to your advantage.
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