When a hiring manager is looking through résumés, what is going to make yours stand out? The amount of time a hiring manager looks at a résumé before putting it in the either the must call pile or the never call pile is just a few seconds. You need to make the most out of your résumé to make the most out of that time! Here are some tricks to having a polished résumé.
- Use a consistent look throughout the document; including font style and sizes, indentation, text color, and paragraph or bullet format.
- Keep your most relevant education or experience at the top. If you are applying for a job that is applicable to your education, but not as much to your work history, list your education first.
- Make sure you have all of your contact information listed. If your email address is more for fun than business, create a new account with a professional sound to it.
- Have someone proofread your résumé. You should have zero mistakes, misspellings, typos, and punctuation errors on your résumé.
- Keep your résumé clean and simple. Take out information that will not benefit you for the position you are applying for. Keep your résumé free of graphics and keep the document to as near one page as possible.
One strategic method to use to keep your résumé sharp is to update it regularly so that when you are ready to use it, it will be ready for you!
