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How To Beef Up Your Resume

Do: Section Out Your Skills

How to Beef Up Your Entry Level Resume with Descriptions About Courses and Projects

Lets say you have some foreign language, software, and leadership skills, plus a few more competencies, noted in your Skills section. Thats great, but its a bit of a laundry list, and odds are it will get skimmed.

So try this: Break out one skill that directly relates to what the position calls for and put it in its own section. Does the job description specifically ask for someone with fluency in a second language or software expertise? Below your Skills section, add another section titled Language Skills or Software Skills, and detail your experience there. This not only adds a couple more lines to the page, but it highlights what makes you a particularly strong candidate.

Your Personal Brand Is Essential For Your Career Success

In her article, Why Personal Branding Is More Important Than Ever, Caroline Castrillon outlines key reasons why a personal brand is essential for career success.

According to Castrillon,

One reason is that it is more popular for recruiters to use social media during the interview process. According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and 43% of employers use social media to check on current employees.

The first thing I do as a recruiter when I want to check out a candidate or coaching client is to look them up on LinkedIn or other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Your digital footprint is the window that highlights to the world who you are. When you have no control over how you want to be seen, you are making a big mistake because you are leaving it up to someone else to make a judgment for you as to who you are.

As Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, once said, Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.

In her book, Becoming, Michelle Obama writes about the importance of having a personal brand and her journey to defining her personal brand. She wrote that:

if you dont get out there and define yourself, youll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.

When you have a personal brand, you are in control. You know exactly what people will say about you when you leave the room.

Focus On Your Skills; Quantify What Youve Done

Shrive also advises job seekers to quantify previous experience on their resumes. You werent just a server working in a particular restaurant. Include on your resume how many customers you served in a day, how many bills you managed daily, how many receipts you gave without mistakes. Servers have to remember all the specials, have to be able to tally the bill properly, have to be able to carry all those plates. These are marketable skills, he says.

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Look To Spruce Your Resume Up

Following up on the previous point, templates should only be a guide and not necessarily just something to replace your own details with. It might pay off to go the extra mile by translating some information into eye-catching infographics and pie charts, or play with text fonts and sizes to emphasise an achievement.;

With everyone so used to scanning QR codes by now, it might be a good idea to generate and include one for a link to your online portfolio. If you cant be creative, look around the Internet for inspiration.

Beyond design, look to expand what you can include in your resume. It could be through non-traditional work experiences such as volunteering and community work . You can also pick up a new language, look to turn your hobby into something marketable, or make use of your Skillsfuture credits to upskill with helpful courses.

Customize For The Job You Want

Pin on Women In Engineering Blog

Respond directly to the job description and explain exactly why you are the candidate for the role. You can do this by relating your accomplishments to the elements of the job role.

Employers want candidates to understand the role they are applying for, and the more you can demonstrate this, the more your CV will stand out.

It might take longer for you to write your CV, especially when applying for a large number of roles, but it if it helps you to find your perfect position then it is time well spent!

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Format It For The Bored And Busy

At its most basic, the freelancer’s cover letter looks a lot like everyone else’s. You need at least three paragraphs in your letter: an introduction explaining how you found the job or lead, a middle paragraph outlining your skills and abilities, and a closing paragraph indicating how you’ll be following up.

Beyond that, focus on making your letter easy to scan. Bullets are your friend, especially when you’re listing your relevant skills or projects that demonstrate your talents. Assume that the person reading your cover letter will spend only a few seconds on it, and make sure that he or she can see the highlights in just a quick glance.

Don’t forget to include keywords, especially if your materials will have to go through some sort of screening software in order to make it to a real, live person.

Write Looking To The Future

Many job seekers mistakenly see their résumé as a historical document. Instead of looking back at the list of experiences and skills that you learned, display those items in a way that tells a story of how certain skills and work experiences will help you in your future position. Many skills are crossovers from one profession to another so explain how you have been building and fine tuning those skills to help you in a future position. The tone this sets is a positive one.;

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How To Improve Your Resume In 7 Steps

If youre looking for how to improve your resume, the 7 steps in this article will help you do this immediately.

Most job seekers dont get a chance to see how employers really read their resume and decide who to interview, so we invited professional career coach and resume writer Kyle Elliott to share tips on how to improve your resume step-by-step in under 20 minutes.

Lets get started

Take Stock Of Your Achievements And Activities

4 Ways To Beef Up Your Resume

Make a list of absolutely everything you’ve done that might be useful on a resume. From this list, you’ll then need to narrow down what to actually include on your resume. Different things might be relevant to different jobs you apply for, so keep a full list and pick the most relevant things from it to include on your resume when you send it out.

Also Check: Cna Skills Resume

Include Any Professional Involvement

Whatever you can do to show that you have familiarity with the industry you are trying to break into can help hiring managers see that youre worth taking a chance on. Beef up your resume by including any professional memberships you may have. Being actively involved in a professional organization provides a clear example of passion, ambition, and a clear focus key traits that hiring managers look for when searching for potential employees.

How Can I Build Up My Resume

1. Explore volunteer opportunities. Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills, gain solid references, find out about local job opportunities, and show potential employers that you are dedicated and responsible. Although it is usually unpaid, it strengthens your application and offers experiences you can talk about in your job search.

2. Go back to school. Going back to school to get your GED or advanced college or professional degree shows that you are responsible, focused and drivenall qualities that employers look for when hiring. As a practical matter, going back to school can offer you training to expand your skillset and qualify you for more jobs.

3. Participate in a reentry program. Employers will be impressed if you are proactive and take steps to grow and learn from challenging past situations. Reentry programs in your local area may be able to help you in your job search, and support you in your transition. To find out about reentry programs or other employment opportunities, we recommend that you attend local reentry fairs and/or talk to people who might know about these programs. Ask your counselor or case manager, parole or probation officer, mentor or sponsor, or others for recommendations.

TALK TO YOUR TRUSTED PERSON

Talk to your trusted person or someone at a workforce development program to see what school, work, and volunteer opportunities are available in your area, and for other ideas about how to build your resume and gain new skills.

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Tips On Making A Rsum For Students

Clare, Student

Putting time and effort into creating a great résumé while youre still in high school might seem pointless, but its actually a great way to get ahead of the game.

When it comes time to apply to a summer job, your first co-op job, or an internship, employers will nearly always require a résumé. The good news is the things you were involved with during high school can be the starting point for a great résumé.

If youre involved in school activities and youve done some volunteering, you probably have more experience than you think. A lot of people think high school experiences are not interesting to employers, but the truth is, they can help make a résumé that sets you apart and give you an edge! And that’s really your goal: to show employers how your qualifications can help them and their organization.

To make you feel better, in high school, my résumé looked something like this.

So even if yours looks like mine did, fear not! After working on my résumé for a few years now, Ive pulled together some tips on how to beef up your résumé before heading to university.;

A résumé isnt just about paid work experience.

Customize Your Resume For Each Job You Apply To

3 Cheap Ways to Beef Up your Resume  Suggestive.com ...

The last and most important thing to remember when creating a good resume is to customize it for every job to which you apply. Different job postings are going to have different keywords, different job duties listed, and so on. Appealing to each individual employer’s needs and job requirements is the best strategy for getting your application noticed and hopefully landing your first job.

At the end of the day, there’s no magical formula for how to write a winning resume the only perfect resume is the one that gets you the job. Be prepared to tweak and update your resume, even when you’re comfortably employed. Utilize a hybrid resume format and focus on your skills and education when you don’t have any work experience to show. Sooner or later, you’ll land that job and gain that much-coveted experience.

Tackling this kind of resume isn’t easy. If you’ve recently graduated or are in an entry-level job search, a professional resume writer can prepare you for success. Learn more.

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Quantify Your Career Job And Work Life Accomplishments

Try to quantify and monetize your career, job, work, and life accomplishments and the complexity of your accountabilities. Always mention numbers, dollars, and percentages instead of just describing your responsibilities.

Quantify this type of information:

  • Sales, percentage of sales growth, and new accounts opened.
  • Held responsible for bringing in new clienteles or Brought in X new clients in X months
  • 500 Employees supervised directly.

Pay Attention To Technical Details

When editing your resume, make sure there are no punctuation, grammatical, spelling, or other errors that will make your resume look unprofessional. Then, have a friend or family member read it again to catch any mistakes you might have missed you can’t afford a typo or missing word as a candidate with no prior work experience. Also, be sure to vary your language and utilize action verbs throughout your resume to keep your reader engaged.

Related:;How to Make Your Resume Stand Out With Action Verbs

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Choose The Right Type Of Resume

There are three main types of resumes. Which one you choose depends on where you are in your job search and career path.

Chronological Resumes

Chronological resumes are the most common and start with work experience. Typically, jobs are listed in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position listed first.

Functional Resumes

Functional resumes;focus on professional experience and skills as opposed to a sequential job history. They can be useful for people who have experienced employment gaps or who are starting a new career path.

Combination Resumes

Combination resumes are a mix of both chronological and functional resumes. They include work experience, skills, and work history to give hiring managers a well-rounded overview of everything that makes them a good fit for a role.

Why Do Dogs Lick

10 Strategies to Beef Up Your College Admissions Resume During a Pandemic, Part Two

It is a question every dog owner has asked themselves at some point. The reasons for licking can vary from one action to another and with each species. Many people think that it is a sign of love or affection while others think it is more so a sign of submission. In some cases, licking may indicate a health problem. There are many reasons as to why your dog licks you and below we will explore some of those.

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Only Include References If Requested

Some job seekers choose to include a list of references on their resume, while others add the commonly used line references available upon request.

The thing is, most employers assume they can ask for references from you if they choose to move forward after your interview theres no need to include them unless asked. It just takes up space on your resume.

When hiring managers ask you to include a list of references with your application, make sure to choose relevant, professional contacts who can speak to your work experience and skills. References should be tailored to the position youre applying for, so consider which of your contacts has the most knowledge of your skills and abilities in a given area before choosing which to add to your reference list.

Show How You Have Been A Strong Leader And Team Player

Most organizations value leadership and teamwork very highly. When writing descriptions of your previous jobs, try to include examples of how each job required you to demonstrate these skills. Incorporate words that show formal and informal leadership and teamwork, such as “led,” “mentored,” “drew a consensus,” “collaborated,” and “sought input.”

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Make A List Of Everything You’re Good At

Before you even start looking at resume templates or thinking about what you want your resume to look like, you need to remind yourself of why you’re such an amazing catch for a prospective client. The best way to do that is to start with a simple list, which at a minimum should include:;

  • Skills. This includes both hard skills, like software packages and computer systems, and soft skills, like teamwork and management experience.
  • Education and training. Go beyond your degrees and formal certificates. Professional training and classes that are relevant to your work count, too.
  • Achievements. Win an award? Graduate with honors? Publish a paper or acquire a patent or trademark? Write it down.
  • Accomplishments. Include projects you’ve managed or participated in, from website redesigns to business acquisitions to department restructuring. Don’t exaggerateand certainly don’t liebut if you contributed to the success of a discrete, tangible improvement at a company or as a freelancer, put it on your list.

Here’s some good news: once you have your list, you also have your resume keywords. Used by recruiting management software, keywords help your resume make it through the filter and onto a recruiter’s or client’s desk.

Highlight Awards And Recognition

Beef Up a Too

Demonstrating that others value your contributions often has a greater influence than you tooting your own horn. Include a category heading for honors and awards if you can fill it with formal recognitions.

In your descriptions of the awards, use keywords that imply recognition, like “selected,” “elected,” and “recognized.” Quality recommendations are another form of recognition. Beef up your;and be sure to include a link to your profile on your resume. If an employer asks for written recommendations, select recommenders who know your skills and accomplishments well.

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Do: Expand Upon Accomplishments

Once youve finalized your list of jobs, remember that you have a luxury more experienced job seekers dontspace to get into more detail. Imagine that you and another candidate both held the same first job in social media. The other candidate, whos also listing many other positions, may only have space for one bullet pointe.g., maintained integrated online social media programbut you can use your extra space to really flesh that experience out. List out how many thousands of fans you grew the organizations Facebook page by, your experience editing videos for YouTube, and the monetized campaign you led on Twitter.

Or, say you were an executive assistant responsible for some event planning. Dont just say, Assisted with 10 events per year, separate it into bullets explaining your expertise in designing invitations, finding venues, and overseeing set-up. Just because youve only held one position doesnt mean you dont have a variety of experiencesand when youre starting out, being able to detail all that out will go a long way in showing the hiring manager what you have to offer.

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