ByErinGreenawald

Whenyouhaven’tupdatedyourresumeinawhile,itcanbehardtoknowwheretostart.What

resumenotasacomprehensivelistofyourcareerhistory,butasamarketingdocumentselling

youastheperfectpersonforthejob.Foreachresumeyousendout,you’llwanttohighlight

onlytheaccomplishmentsandskillsthataremostrelevanttothejobathand(evenifthat

meansyoudon’tincludeallofyourexperience).JobsearchexpertLilyZhangexplainsmore

aboutwhatitmeanstotailoryourresumehere.

2. ButKeepaMasterListofAllJobs

Sinceyou’llwanttobeswappingdifferentinformationinandoutdependingonthejobyou’re

applyingto,keeparesumemasterlistonyourcomputerwhereyoukeepanyinformation

you’veeverincludedonaresume:oldpositions,bulletpointstailoredfordifferentapplications,

specialprojectsthatonlysometimesmakesensetoinclude.Then,whenyou’recraftingeach

resume,it’sjustamatterofcuttingandpastingrelevantinformationtogether.Thinkofthisas

iswhatthehiringmanagerisgoingtoseefirst—andwhatwillserveasahookforsomeoneto

keeponreading.Sofocusonputtingyourbest,mostrelevantexperiencesfirst—andthen

checkoutthesefiveothermarketingtrickstogetyourresumenoticed.

4. DitchtheObjectiveStatement

AccordingtoZhang,theonlyoccasionwhenanobjectivesectionmakessenseiswhenyou’re

makingahugecareerchangeandneedtoexplainfromthegetgowhyyourexperiencedoesn’t

matchupwiththepositionyou’reapplyingto.Ineveryothercase?Considerwhethera

summarystatementwouldberightforyou—orjustnixitaltogethertosavespaceandfocuson

makingtherestofyourresumestellar.

5. Keepit(Reverse)Chronological

forceyourselftodothis.Ifyoutrulyhaveenoughrelevantandimportantexperience,training,

andcredentialstoshowcaseonmorethanonepageofyourresume,thengoforit.Butifyou

moreinlessspace.

7. ConsideranOnlineSupplement

Can’tfigureouthowtotellyourwholestoryononepage,orwanttobeabletoincludesome

visualexamplesofyourwork?Insteadoftryingtohaveyourresumecovereverything,cover

themostimportantdetailsonthatdocument,andthenincludealinktoyourpersonalwebsite,

whereyoucandivemoreintowhatmakesyoutheidealcandidate.

8. KeepitSimple

We’lltalkaboutgettingcreativeinordertostandoutinaminute.Butthemostbasicprinciple

ofgoodresumeformattinganddesign?Keepitsimple.Useabasicbutmodernfont,like

Helvetica,Arial,orCenturyGothic.Makeyourresumeeasyonhiringmanagers’eyesbyusinga

fontsizebetween10and12andleavingahealthyamountofwhitespaceonthepage.Youcan

useadifferentfontortypefaceforyourname,yourresumeheaders,andthecompaniesfor

whichyou’veworked,butkeepitsimpleandkeepitconsistent.Yourmainfocushereshouldbe

onreadabilityforthehiringmanager.Thatbeingsaid,youshouldfeelfreeto…

butyoushouldusethemthoughtfully.Ifyou’reapplyingthroughanATS,keeptothestandard

willingtoputinthetime,creativity,anddesignworktomakeitawesome,orgethelpfroma

professional.

10. MakeYourContactInfoProminent

prospectiveemployers.)

Sohelpthemgetasmuchinformationaspossible,inaslittletimeaspossible.These12small

formattingchangeswillmakeahugedifference.

Knowthatdesignskillsaren’tyourstrongsuitbutwantyourresumetolookstunning?There’s

noshameingettinghelp,soconsiderworkingwithaprofessionalresumedesigner.Thisis

arguablythemostimportantdocumentofyourjobsearch,soit’sworthgettingitexactlyright!

WorkExperience

13. KeepitRecent,KeepitRelevant

Asarule,youshouldonlyshowthemostrecent1015yearsofyourcareerhistoryandonly

includetheexperiencerelevanttothepositionstowhichyouareapplying.Andrememberto

allocaterealestateonyourresumeaccordingtoimportance.Ifthere’sachoicebetween

includingonemorecollegeinternshiporgoingintomoredetailaboutyourcurrentrole,always

choosethelatter(unlessapreviousjobwasmorerelevanttotheoneyou’reapplyingto).

14. NoRelevantExperience?NoWorries!

Don’tpanicifyoudon’thaveanyexperiencethatfitsthebill.Instead,Zhangexplains,focus

yourresumeonyourrelevantandtransferrableskillsalongwithanyrelatedsideoracademic

projects,andthenmakesuretopairitwithastrongcoverlettertellingthenarrativeofwhy

you’reidealforthejob.

shouldn’thavemorethanfiveorsixbulletsinagivensection.Nomatterhowgoodyourbullets

16. BringitDownaLevel

Youmaybetemptedtothrowintonsofindustryjargonsoyousoundlikeyouknowwhat

you’retalkingabout,butultimatelyyouwantyourresumetobeunderstandabletotheaverage

person.Rememberthatthefirstpersonwhoseesyourresumemightbearecruiter,an

Useasmanyfacts,figures,andnumbersasyoucaninyourbulletpoints.Howmanypeople

aresomesecretstoaddingmoretoyourresume.

done!Asyoulookatyourbulletpoints,thinkabouthowyoucantakeeachstatementonestep

furtherandaddinwhatthebenefitwastoyourbossoryourcompany.Bydoingthis,you

clearlycommunicatenotonlywhatyou’recapableof,butalsothedirectbenefittheemployer

willreceivebyhiringyou.Ifyou’renotsurehowtoexplainyourimpact,checkoutthesetipsfor

turningyourdutiesintoaccomplishments.

19. Show—Don’tTell—YourSoftSkills

fast.Butbeinga“strongleader”oran“effectivecommunicator”areimportantcharacteristics

21. MixUpYourWordUse

quickly.Useourhandylistofbetterverbstomixitup!

22. UseKeywords

Usekeywordsinyourresume:Scanthejobdescription,seewhatwordsareusedmostoften,

andmakesureyou’veincludedtheminyourbulletpoints.Notonlyisthisaselfcheckthat

you’retargetingyourresumetothejob,it’llmakesureyougetnoticedinapplicanttracking

systems.Stuckonwhichwordstoinclude?DumpthejobdescriptionintoatoollikeTagCrowd,

whichwillanalyzeandspitoutthemostusedkeywords.

23. AvoidEmptyWords

Education

24. ExperienceFirst,EducationSecond

Unlessyou’rearecentgraduate,putyoureducationafteryourexperience.Chancesare,your

tocollege.

25. AlsoKeepitReverseChronological

Usually,youshouldlaydownyoureducationalbackgroundbylistingthemostrecentor

advanceddegreefirst,workinginreversechronologicalorder.Butifoldercourseworkismore

specifictothejob,listthatfirsttograbthereviewer’sattention.

26. ButSkiptheDates

Don’tlistyourgraduationdates.Thereviewercaresmoreaboutwhetherornotyouhavethe

27. HighlightHonors,NotGPA

Ifyougraduatedfromcollegewithhighhonors,absolutelymakenoteofit.Whileyoudon’t

needtolistyourGPA,don’tbeafraidtoshowcasethatsummacumlaudestatusorthefactthat

youwereinthehonorscollegeatyouruniversity.

28. IncludeContinuingorOnlineEducation

Don’tbeafraidtoincludecontinuingeducation,professionaldevelopmentcoursework,or

onlinecoursesinyoureducationsection,especiallyifitfeelsalittlelight.KelliOrrelaexplains,

“Onlinecoursesareamorethanacceptednormnowadays,andyourparticipationinthemcan

actuallyshowyourdeterminationandmotivationtogettheskillsyouneedforyourcareer.”

29. ListOutYourSkills

Besuretoaddasectionthatlistsoutalltherelevantskillsyouhaveforaposition,including

techskillslikeHTMLandAdobeCreativeSuiteandanyindustryrelatedcertifications.Justmake

suretoskipincludingskillsthateveryoneisexpectedtohave,likeusingemailorMicrosoft