You’ve found a job that you think you’ll be really good at, and you’re getting prepared to apply, which means editing your portfolio, composing a cover letter, and preparing your resume. But how can you be sure that your resume is the best it can possibly be? What will it take to get employers to take second look at what you have to offer? Good resume writing can help to ease your worries and get you your dream job–and you can do it yourself! Here are some suggestions to help your resume stand out.
One of the first things you’ll want to do is compose a clear summary of your skills and positive attributes. This should be a short paragraph, and should only take up about a fourth of your resume. Anything shorter may not highlight your skills adequately, and anything more than this may cause you to lose the interest of employers. You may want to start off with something like ‘my career objectives include’ or ‘i am seeking employment with [company] in order to enhance my skills in…’ This way, you are letting potential employers know that you plan on being successful once hired with the company, and that you are ambitious and have individual goals.
Next, you’ll want to formulate your job experience correctly. Be sure to list your jobs in chronological order, starting with your most recent position. Name the company, city and state, dates worked, and the title you held at the company. You may also want to add a sentence or two describing your duties, or bullet points, depending on the length of your resume and your personal style. If you held leadership positions at any of your jobs, be sure to highlight this in your resume.
Your skill set is also very important when you’re applying for a job, and good resume writing should help you to put your abilities to the forefront. Leadership skills, communication skills, and computer skills should all be featured, so be sure to include in your resume whether or not you are trained to operate certain advanced computer programs, or whether or not you have been a manager before. This will definitely make your resume more attractive, and will help to keep you in mind when employers are looking for new people to be in charge of major projects in the company.
Good resume writing should also include a bit of originality. Don’t forget to mention your hobbies and interests in your resume and/or cover letter as well. This shows that you are well-rounded, and would be diversity to the company you’re applying to work with.