Writing a resume is not as easy as you might think. While it may seem like a simple compilation of what you’ve achieved till now, it’s much more complicated than that. If you think that the same old resume that you’ve been using since the last few years is going to help you get that next job, you might be dreaming.
Recruitment officers are now looking for the latest updates in the applicant resumes. These not only focus on the quality of information, but also the design of your resume. With more and more trends emerging, you need to stay up to date with these to keep your resume relevant for the recruiter. We’ve compiled a list of things that experts are saying to incorporate in your resume today to achieve your career goals.
Focus on the Design
While most applicants focus on the content while creating their first resume, a lot of attention should also be given to the design. That’s because it can help refocus the reader’s attention towards something that you believe stands out on your resume. By highlighting aspects that are much more noteworthy with the help of design, you help the recruiter to notice your quality traits as well.
According to expert Virginia Franco, it’s essential to understand that readers don’t have too much time on their hands to go through every resume in detail. Huge blocks of texts are only going to land your resume on the rejected pile. Instead of adding too much information, try to add information in a smart manner. Here’s what you can use to make your resume more compelling:
- Graphs;
- Color;
- Shading;
- Charts; and
- Boxes.
Make sure that you use these strategically and not overload your resume with these to confuse the recruiter.
Mobile-Friendly Resumes are a Hit
In today’s age, everyone accesses their documents through their phones or tablets. Therefore, it’s important to realize that your resume should have the right features to show up on the recruiter’s phone accurately. But how do you guarantee your resume shows up correctly on mobile phones? Well, it’s more of a trial and error system.
Before sending your resume to the recruiter, make it a habit to proofread and transfer it to your phone. Access the resume you’ve sent yourself and verify whether every aspect of it shows on your phone. If it doesn’t, tweak things up a bit and try again. This is necessary so that all the relevant information showcases on your recruiter’s phone.
Here’s a list of things that’ll help you ensure a mobile friendly design for your resume:
- Adequate white space;
- A suitable font type, like Calibri; and
- A decent font size, 11 or 12-point.
Incorporate the above-mentioned points into your resume to ensure that your resume is easy to read and mobile-friendly.
Be Brief Yet Powerful – Quantify Your Work
The resume reader’s attention span is not going to be extensive enough to go over all the details of your career since the start. While it may seem like a great idea to add in all the details possible about your work experience, it can also be pointless to do so as recruiters don’t go over them.
The best way to catch their attention is by being precise while adding quantities to your work. For instance, you can talk about the conversion ratio of a project that you worked on. How much did the sales go up by? How did your input convert to a higher percentage of sales?
For your resume to stand out this season, you need to make sure that you add the right keywords, get the metrics flowing in, and focus on the technologies you used. All of this should be concluded in one sentence for the reader to get the gist of what you’ve done.
Build a Narrative Using SMART Statements
Adrienne Tom, a Canadian resume writer, suggests that it’s imperative to streamline the way your resume flows to catch the attention of the reader. It should showcase the story of your career in the most effortless manner possible. For this, she suggests that you make use of the SMART method. This refers to specific, measurable, action-oriented, result-oriented, and time-bound details on your resume.
Adhering to these rules is necessary in this age as it captures the attention of the recruiter. It showcases to them your career story in the best way possible. It covers relevant result-driven details, reduces the use of jargon, adds a compelling touch to your resume, and helps you keep things concise when you’re writing. SMART statements are encouraged by most experts these days as they help build better resumes overall.
Always Write a Compelling and Easy-to-Read Resume
According to Gary Burnison, the CEO of Korn Ferry, a global consulting firm, one of the leading qualities of a resume is it being simple to read. This helps recruiters get to the real quality content that you’re trying to offer them rather than being confused by all the gimmicky details. While focusing on the design is essential, making sure that you don’t go overboard with it is also necessary. So, while you should spend time making it presentable and eye-catching, adding too much of everything can disinterest the readers.
Using adequate white space, simple designs, and writing a compelling story is all that a resume should have. The story should be truthful and should showcase a staircase pattern of growth for the candidate’s career. The reverse chronological list of work history should be clear and concise on the resume.
Important to Remember
Before you go, it’s important that you remember that your resume is one of the most important tools that can help you get the growth you need for your career. When doing a resume for the first time, don’t forget the following tips:
- Be concise and compelling;
- Avoid use of jargon;
- Keep information relevant; and
- Make use of white space.
These are some of the basic guidelines that you should follow when creating your resume for the first time. They’ll help you create an effective one that’ll get your resume noticed by recruiters.
Bottom Line
All in all, keeping up with the latest resume trends helps you stay relevant to recruiters. If you don’t follow through, there’s a high chance that they’ll disregard your resume as they will assume you’re not up to date with the latest changes required to get the job. Use the expert advice offered here to land your next job with a killer resume.
Aliza Licht is a professional writer with 10 years of experience. She loves writing about career development and technical innovations. Currently she’s working for the up-and-coming startup ResumeBuilderPro. This resume builder makes writing a resume quick and easy.
