Your resume is an employer’s very first impression of you and you know what they say about first impressions – you never get a second chance. On average, employers only take 10 seconds to read a resume, so you do not have much time to get a potential employer’s attention. Here are 5 resume writing tips to help make the first impression a memorable one!
Organize Your Resume
Your resume should include your name and contact information, education, professional or work experience, and any significant certifications, skills, achievements, or training. Organizing your resume under these headings helps your potential employer quickly review your resume to see if they want to learn more with an in-person interview. Bold or underline each section heading to make them stand out. Additionally, when describing relevant work experience, use a reverse chronological order. List your current position and employer first and then work backwards.
Tailor Your Resume
Include two or three bullet points to describe most relevant job responsibilities. Additionally review the job descriptions for positions that you are interested in and incorporate key words in your description of your job responsibilities. Use active word, such as “led,”, “organized,” or “developed” to describe your job responsibilities. Make sure to adjust your resume to highlight skills that are specific to the positions to which you are applying.
Proofread Your Resume
Proofread your resume for any misspelled words or mistakes. Nothing gets a resume sent to the reject pile faster than typos. Avoid using use military jargon or abbreviations. Use general terms that are easy to understand.
Review and Revise Your Resume
Since your resume will only be seen for ten seconds, set a timer for ten seconds and review your resume. Try to see if you get an accurate depiction of your experience and skills during that brief time period. If you are unable to review your entire resume in ten seconds or if your qualifications and experience do not jump off the page, consider revising your resume and performing the ten second test again.
Share Your Resume
Give your resume to civilian friends or family to review to see if it is easily readable and understandable to them. This is an easy way to tell if your resume will be comprehensible to a potential employer. If your civilian friends and family are confused about terms in your resume, so will potential employers.