First Impressions

Like most areas of our lives, first impressions are important.  The same applies to your job search as a candidate and your early interactions with an employer.  As a candidate, the first impression you typically make is your resume.  Your resume should be viewed as a valuable tool to help sell your skills and explain how your experience makes you a candidate worth pursuing from the start.  

We see hundreds of resumes each week, some are really good and some are really bad.  Both types of resumes stand out, but for different reasons, and with different results in your job search.  

This should go without saying, but if you expect to make it to the stage of a phone screen, interview, and job offer, you need a resume that impresses the HR staff and hiring manager to help you rise above other candidates.  A great resume improves the chances of landing that crucial first interview where you’ll be able to talk more openly about your experience and particular skills. 

Here are a few reminders and tips for creating a great resume to help you get noticed:

Make your resume easy to read and visually appealing.

Make sure your contact information is easy to find and accurate.  (Just last week I received a resume from a candidate who didn’t have a phone number or email address on the resume itself.  The week before I received a resume with the wrong phone number listed.  How can an employer contact you about a job without your correct contact information?)

Cater your resume to the job description by including relevant experience, education, and training.  Look for “buzzwords” and keywords in the job description and use them in your resume.  (Also remember, algorithms and other technology are sometimes standing in the way of you and a human, so it’s important to have buzzwords, keywords, and other language that checks all the right boxes for the role.)

Don’t be afraid to remove irrelevant experience, personal addresses, or dates of graduation if you think these will be viewed negatively by a company. Using a generic resume for all positions is less effective at getting noticed in most cases.

Be attentive to details in your resume such as font size & type, spacing, alignment, grammar, and punctuation.  Make your resume match.  Besides, attention to detail is a skill every employer wants.  In their mind, if you can’t show attention to detail on your resume, you likely won’t be able to show it in your work for their company.

There are plenty of resources online for making a great resume that helps you get noticed.  In fact, we have a template on our website that teaches you how to make a killer resume, the one you are proud to make your first impression with.