You’re probably wondering how you can make your resume more attractive. Well, the answer is quite simple: Less means more.
Brief, accurate, and fresh. These summarize the information you need to present in your resume, in order for it to attract a potential employer. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case among many applicants. Self-written resumes are commonly riddled with errors that would’ve otherwise been avoided with the services of top resume companies. Still, it’s never too late to make the resume better yourself.
Important information like your experience and qualifications, can easily get lost in a pile of irrelevant data. Recruiters won’t be happy to review a resume filled with chaotic, jumbled-up text. But don’t fret. Resumance.com will help you go through your resume once more, and cross out details that don’t add value at all.
Purpose of the Application
Oftentimes, this item is the first thing recruiters see in a lot of resumes. For example: “My goal is to get a position in your dynamically developing company”.
To begin with, one of the reasons you’re sending out a resume is that you want to get a job. Employers understand this desire very much. Therefore, it’s a bit redundant to start your resume with such statements. A better way to do it would be to replace this item with a professional profile. Here, you can designate the scope of work in which you specialize in.
If you’re applying for several different posts, don’t shove all the information in a single resume. Instead, create different versions of your resume, based on the specific vacancy. The main point is to present information in a clear and concise manner.
On the other hand, it makes sense to describe the purpose of the application if you’re working for the first time or changing careers. But it’s important to explain why you chose a particular field of work or changed your profession.
Personal Information
This includes information like your marital status, religion, home address, etc. If the employer needs such information, they may likely ask about them in the interview. Therefore, you need to fill in this section of your resume with accurate information, such as:
- Date of birth
- Complete address
- Contact number
- Email address
Don’t forget to mention your full name in the opening of your resume. You may or may not want to specify your gender, but this part is often self-explanatory once you get to meet the recruiter for an interview.
Irrelevant Experiences
While it’s good to put a bit of your personality in it, a resume is still a professional document - not an autobiography. You don’t have to describe every single job experience you’ve ever had in full detail. If you worked for a firm 10 years ago, an employer may not need to know about this detail anymore. As much as possible, limit information to the company name and the specific achievements you’ve managed and accomplished.
At the same time, don’t overwrite the job description. Include only useful information that’s relevant to the position you’re applying for.
Example:
Marketing Director: Worked 2 months and introduced a new product to the market, allowing the company to earn $5 million within 4 months
HR Manager: Involved with coordinating administrative functions of the company, making it possible to reduce staff turnover from 45% to 16 percent
Structure your experience properly and appropriately. Specify them in chronological order, starting with the newest down to the oldest. If you’re a fresh graduate and this is your first time applying for a job, showcase your skills and abilities that could potentially be useful to the company. Write down what you’ve learned, describe practical skills, state your desire to gain new knowledge, and earn letters of recommendation.
If you’re still working for a company during your job search, write about your latest position in the present tense. Otherwise, describe the experience and knowledge you’ve gained but don’t formulate them in a way that would make a potential employer think you’re still working for a different company.
If, for some reason, you were dismissed from your previous position, it’s better to not specify it on your resume. The best time to discuss and explain this would be during the actual interview.
Basic Skills
In this day and age, being proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook), or being an expert with the Internet (Google, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, Internet Explorer), are considered “super-basic skills” that are to be expected from pretty much all employees. If you include them as a “useful skill” in your resume, chances are the employer won’t be the least bit impressed.
On the other hand, you might want to mention foreign language skills, if you can speak and write in several different languages. However, you don’t have to include them if you only know the basics (i.e. greetings). Only specify those that you know at a level that’s not lower than intermediate.
Funny Email Address
If you don’t want to part with your old email address (Example: lovelykatie@gmail.com or coolguy90@yahoo.com), well, you really don’t have to. However, you must separate personal from professional correspondence. For a professional document like a resume, using an email address that seems to have been with you since your teen years may spoil your image as a candidate. To put up a good impression on an employer, it’s best to create a separate mailbox using your name, like johnsmith@gmail.com.
Templates and Errors
A lot of job-seekers download template summaries from the Internet, make a few adjustments, and then send them out to recruiters. Sometimes, this does more harm than good. Recruiters, who probably have to deal with piles of CVs on a regular basis, can easily detect such ready-made templates. It’s anything but pleasing!
When preparing a resume, make sure to write with short yet accurate sentences. If possible, avoid technical jargon. A 2-page summary is the rule of thumb.
Once you’re done writing your resume, proofread and edit it to see if you need to delete unnecessary information. Correct or remove spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. And don’t forget to ask someone to read your resume before sending it to a recruiter. This way, you can be sure it’s free of mistakes, misprints, and inaccuracies.
Overuse of Adjectives in the “About Me” Section
Over-inflating your merits and abilities in the resume is inappropriate. You don’t have to use all positive adjectives in the dictionary in order to impress an employer. Things like being “stress-resistant”, “sociable”, “kind”, and “sympathetic” are not just overused, but are words that employers are probably sick and tired of seeing in resumes.
Be selective in describing your personal traits and qualities. Write only those that really represent you and is relevant to the job post. Consider replacing adjectives with positive verbs, like “created”, “increased”, “initiated”, “completed”, “explored”, etc.
Links to Social Media Accounts
Your social media profile is essentially irrelevant to your work, unless the vacancy specifically requires you to work with social media platforms. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the impact of social networks on a career. These days, many recruiters get to know more about applicants through their social media profiles.
Still, it’s better to learn more about the candidate in person. So even if you don’t specify links to your social media accounts, recruiters will get to know you more through the interview.
In any case, your social media profiles should not suggest a “double life”, inappropriate content, or any intimate details that could spoil your image as a professional. It’s better to refer them to your LinkedIn profile or professional blog, if any.
False Information
It’s never a good idea to deceive employers with your resume. You’d probably think it’s alright to add a bit of flair by adding fictitious work experience, nonexistent qualities and achievements, or fake diplomas. But eventually, employers will uncover this deception. If not during the interview, it may resurface during your probation period or when you become a regular (which is worse!). Do you want to put yourself in such a sticky situation?
When applying for a job, you need to think like a recruiter. They think about whether the applicant’s experience corresponds to the job requirements, and whether the information they provide coincide in the summary with the job description. Recruiters are interested in a candidate’s success stories which are backed up by facts, not fiction.
With these in mind, make sure to bring a resume containing accurate and concise information. One that is easy to understand by whoever is going to read it. More importantly, adapt your resume for a specific position and company, and always determine the exact requirements.
Posted by Abigail Jackson
Abigail Jackson is the Editor-in-Chief at Resumance. After earning her degree in Psychology and working for several years as a career adviser, she is now working as an independent career consultant and a seasoned resume writer. You can get in touch with Abigail on Twitter @theresumance.
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