You want your resume to stand out from the hundreds of others that a recruiter or hiring manager sees each day. Here are 6 resume tips to make yourself memorable—in a good way.
- Very clearly state upfront what type of position you are interested in and what you have achieved in the past that would be valuable for a new employer. That means your headline (for example, HR Consultant or Vice President of Sales) and your summary must be targeted for the positions and industries you are most interested in.
- If leadership roles aren’t available to you in your current position, take on leadership in a nonprofit or professional organization. Show that you have soft skills such as mentoring, communicating, developing strategy, and following through on a project that have value to any organization.
- Add to your professional credentials by taking a course, especially one that results in certification. In-house training definitely counts. Even better, give a course or fulfill a speaking engagement. If you aren’t sure of your speaking skills, join Toastmasters or a similar group.
- Develop relationships with individuals in other departments in your organization or with vendors and consultants. The ability to break down silos, share information across specialties, and participate in ad hoc teams is one that most organizations appreciate highly.
- Help a customer. You might help by re-writing instructions so they are more intelligible, by championing a customer’s issue, by finding a solution to problems customers present over and over to your current company—there are lots of ways to help customers that may not even involve direct customer contact.
- Think in terms of numbers. Sales people are used to presenting their achievements as units sold or dollar amounts received or ranking against other sales people. But numbers occur everywhere. Perhaps you completed a project on time (how fast?), under budget (by what amount?), with a team (how many people?), despite previous failures (how many others tried?), and benefited customers (how many?).
When your resume is focused and achievement oriented, shows off your soft skills, and provides detail, you become an individual rather than one of many job applicants. Are you having difficulty writing a resume that follows these 6 tips? Contact Robin’s Resumes® today.