The onset of autumn brings managers and employees alike back from summer vacations. For job seekers, this is the time to trim resume fat while beefing up highlights to stand out amongst an avalanche of applicants.
Prime resume shaping season is upon us
In comes fall once again, a time for pumpkin-spiced lattes and colorful foliage lining the countryside. More importantly for job seekers, it means an accelerating market recuperating from three months of vacation-induced downtime across industries. Late August and early September open opportunities to those willing to put the time and energy into elevating and advancing their careers, and it all starts with a resume booster shot.
Today we’ll be outlining some tips and tricks to revitalize your resume so you can stand out amongst a sea of candidates and land your dream job.
Update your information
Starting at the most trivial of steps, make sure your contact information heading your resume is up to date. You may have switched locations, phone numbers, email addresses, and other means of contact since the last time you actively searched. Moreso, ensure your social media presence is professional, and attach those profiles to show you’re actively sharing insightful content in your industry.
Include a minute summary of your experience and expertise
Although some recommend getting straight into your work history, it’s never a bad idea to include a sentence or two at the top of your resume to outline what you offer and express your ambitions. Again, keep this section very brief as you could lose your reader before they get to your actual experience if scared off by a long biographical paragraph.
Eliminate all grammar and spelling errors
As obvious as this is, it’s worth revisiting every time you rework your resume for a new pursuit. Nothing stands out more on a resume than a misspelled word or an “it’s” that should be an “its.” Get as many eyes on your resume as possible; outsiders’ eyes are usually much more critical than your own.
Don’t just summarize expected responsibilities, express how you excelled
An easy way to regress to the pack is by simply listing responsibilities you had in past or present roles. Similar candidates have almost identical responsibilities and therefore identical resumes. Highlight your unique accolades and successes you achieved beyond your expected responsibilities. Instead of writing “managed a team of five through client retention protocols,” aim for something more like “oversaw the smallest client retention team in our firm while executing the highest number (insert X number here) of retainers of all other teams.”
Make your experience exceptional and take it to the next level by making it quantifiable if possible.
Doctor your resume to your desired job application
Although you should look to stand out with unique accolades earned instead of re-writing past job requisitions as responsibilities, you should cater your resume to active application keywords to maximize your resume SEO. You’ll need to vault over the automated applicant tracking system, or ATS with keywords before you can wow hiring managers with those high achievements.
Remove irrelevant work experience
This will differ between job applications, but make sure you only include relevant work experience on your resume for the position you are pursuing.
“Take out all superfluous detail that takes away from your best applicable skillsets to the role at hand.” Says Alyssa Mastrangelo, CSS PSG National Recruiting Director.
This rule goes hand-in-hand with keeping your resume to two pages max (ideally one). Brevity is key, and focusing only on your experience that matters to the job for which you are applying will keep your resume brief, pointed, and fitted to said requisition.
However, if you are just starting out in your career with little to no experience, include any education, volunteer work, personal projects, etc. that you can highlight transferrable skills from for an entry-level position.
For the most part, leave education for the end of your resume
Unless you’re formatting your resume for a grad school application or another form of higher education, leave your educational background at the end. Most relevant work experience to your desired position will come from work in the real world and not education. Many hiring managers do check the end of your resume to see at the very least where/if you went to school, and a mutual alma mater connection can sometimes go far.
Partner with the experts at CSS Professional Staffing Group today and maximize your resume
The sales and recruitment teams at CSS PSG are here to guide you through both applying and hiring for candidates and clients looking to add significant talent to their teams this fall. Specializing in human resources, accounting and finance, office support, and call center support, CSS PSG has been a staffing industry leader for almost 20 years with stellar candidate reviews. Connect with CSS PSG today to meet your accelerating fall applying and hiring needs!