12 Résumé Tips to Get You Hired

Your résumé is your introduction to a prospective employee. What it says, or doesn’t say, will be a major factor in whether you land an interview – the first step to getting the job.

To craft a résumé that highlights your strengths and sells your skills, check out the tips below.

1. Tailor your résumé to fit the job description. By rephrasing a few key words and phrases, your résumé will showcase why you’re the right candidate for the job.

2. Find out the hiring manager’s name and send your résumé directly to him or her, instead of just sending it to a generic company e-mail or mailing address.

3. Include specifics such as how big a budget you managed or what percent you increased sales.

4. Use descriptive verbs like “streamlined,” “accelerated” and “oversaw.”

5. Don’t list the reasons you left past jobs. This can be discussed in an interview, if necessary.

6. Be consistent. If you list contact information for one of your past employers, do so for all of them. If you capitalize some job titles, capitalize them all.

7. Don’t use the words “I,” “me” or “myself.” Instead, just start each sentence with a verb. For example, “Oversaw the work of 15 CNAs in a long-term care facility.”

8. Keep your formatting simple. Excess bold, italics or underlining is distracting.

9. If you provide an e-mail address, make sure it sounds professional and isn’t something like hotstuff4ever@email.com.

10. Don’t oversell yourself. Only list skills and training you actually possess.

11. Proofread. Typos and grammatical errors make your résumé look sloppy and may land your résumé in the trash. Mistyping your contact information can also prevent an employer from being able to get a hold of you.

12. Include a cover letter with your résumé. Making the extra effort to create a brief cover letter can do a lot to help your résumé stand out.

A well thought out résumé always makes a better impression than one that is thrown together at the last minute. So, if you really want to grab an employer’s attention, take the time to create a solid résumé.

How do you try to make your résumé stand out? What are some of your struggles in creating a résumé?

Additional Resources:

Resume and Cover Letter Articles

Comments

[Eugene]

Dear sirs,
I was pleased to note your advertisement in Chicago Tribune.
I have experience of logistics field more than 25 years. But I have not American experience of work and my communication skills is not well. So, I would like to work as assistant entry level, part time, poor pay or as volunteer.
Thank you for your time spent reading this letter.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely Eugene Vorobyev.

[Ryan Palesano]

I am confused. All I want to do is transfer my files from Oklahoma City to Plano. I need a job really bad. Waht Do i do

[Summer]

Ryan and Eugene,
Thanks for your interest in working with Express. To apply for a position with your local office, you can go to http://www.expresspersonnel.com/us/locations/us/default.aspx to find the office closest to you.
Then give them a call, or stop by the office to apply for jobs. Best wishes on your job search!

[Saranyan]

Good points. How about a visual resume?

http://www.slideshare.net/saranyan/visual-resume

Thanks,
Saranyan

[Tiffany]

Saranyan,
Great visual resume! Recruiting on the web is definitely on the rise, and for a field like yours, I'd say a visual resume is a great way to go. It's serious but fun, shows you have a great personality and a lot of tenacity, and is creative to boot.

It will take time though, for recruiting in many other fields to catch up. That's why I'd say for now, regardless of what all you're doing online, many of us will need to have a traditional paper resume ready too...

[Debt Consolidation]

For Sure an riveting read and hugely interpreted perceptivity.

[Frank Vincent Ippolito]

sometimes its important to elt an employer know about your personality as well as your experience in a resume. so its important to give facts about what YOU like to do with your spare time, as well as your technical ability to accomplish a job

[local job centre]

You covered all the bases well! I was looking for a way to encourage kids, years away from needing a resume, to think in ways that will help them focus on the career they want and to present themselves in a fashion that will allow them to get the jobs they need for that career. Sounds like pretty grown up stuff for 4th grade to 8th graders at a career fair, but in my opinion it’s pretty late to start thinking in these terms as a junior or senior in high school.

[local job centre]

Rightly said friend.. All concepts of writing a proper resume without making mistake covered, one thing one must add is common sense to make a perfect resume with all the above tips..