Add Your Linkedin Profile
In its place, add a link to your LinkedIn profile, as well as any other relevant social media handles . Caveat: Never include Facebook, no matter how clean you keep it.
Dont want to drop your whole ugly LinkedIn URL onto your resume? Create a custom URL to your public profile using simply /yourname . .
Organize Your Resume To Make It Easy To Understand
You need to organize your resume to help agencies evaluate your experience. If you dont provide the information required for the hiring agency to determine your qualifications, you might not be considered for the job.
- Use reverse chronological order to list your experiencestart with your most recent experience first and work your way back.
- Provide greater detail for experience that is relevant to the job for which you are applying.
- Show all experiences and accomplishments under the job in which you earned it. This helps agencies determine the amount of experience you have with that particular skill.
- Use either bullet or paragraph format to describe your experiences and accomplishments.
- Use plain language avoid using acronyms and terms that are not easily understood.
Before You Get Started
Read the entire job announcement. Focus on the following sections to understand whether or not you qualify for the position. This critical information is found under:
- Duties and Qualifications
- How to Apply
- How You Will be Evaluated
Make sure you have the required experience and/or education before you apply. Hiring agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and the required qualifications, including:
- Level and amount of experience
- Education
- Training
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Match Your Experiences To The Job Listing
Writing a solid resume begins with studying the job description for the role youâre applying for. You want your resume to match up with what the company is looking for, so start by making a list of the key terms from the job description.
Go through the job description, and write down or highlight all the abilities, skills, and values listed within. Pay close attention to those listed as required.
Now, think about experiences in your own life that match up with the items on the list. If the job listing asks for someone with strong organizational skills, think about times when youâve had to be particularly organized. Maybe you helped plan a school event or led a group project.
Itâs okay if you donât have something for every item. Keep this list nearby as you begin to fill in your resume template.
How Many Pages Should A Resume Be
The short answer is that one page is the ideal resume length for most candidates. However, if you have a lot of relevant work experience, it can be two or even three pages.
Just note that unless youre applying for an upper-management position or an academic post, one page will be enough for hiring managers. Even Elon Musks resume could be tightened into one page.
If youre applying for an academic position, youll need to send a CV instead of a resume. Keep in mind that CV templates are often several pages long, and contain more information to show the progression of your academic career.
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Resume Summary Or Objective
Its not a secret for anyone that first impressions matter, whether theyre in your personal life, or your career.
If you leave a bad first impression, chances are, its there to stay. After all, its very hard to change someones opinion of you.
The same applies to your job search – the HR manager spends around 6 seconds scanning each resume. Yep, your carefully-worded, hand-crafted resume only gets 6 seconds of attention. Unless, of course, you manage to leave an amazing first impression.
The way you accomplish this is through either a good resume summary or objective. Both are placed at the top of your resume, right around the contact information section:
So, heres what you need to know about the two:
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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How To Make A Resume
A resume is a document commonly used in the hiring process. It includes information about your background and qualifications and should communicate the most important, relevant information about you to employers in a clear, easy-to-read format. The goal is to quickly communicate why you are uniquely qualified for the position based on your skills and experiences.
To create a resume that will get noticed by employers, you can follow a few simple steps and best practices. The main goal to keep in mind is to make your resume relevant and readable. Lets take a closer look at the best ways to write each of these resume sections. For more inspiration when writing or updating your resume, look at resume samples from your industry and job title.
If you’re interested in professional and personalized resume feedback, learn more about Indeed’s free and paid resume review services at indeed.com/resumehelp.
1. Name and contact information2. Summary or objectivec. Description of role and achievement4. Education6. Optional
Ensure Your Resume Passes The Ats Test
So what does this mean for you and your resume? It means you should take the necessary steps to beat the ATS bots. Here are a few quick fixes you can make to your resume so it is more ATS friendly:
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Avoid using images, charts, graphics, or elaborate symbols.
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Optimize your resume with job-related keywords. Not sure what to include? Look up five similar job listings and scan them for the most frequently used words.
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Save and upload your resume as a Word document, instead of a PDF. These tend to be more ATS friendly.
Even if the company you’re applying to doesn’t use an ATS, these tips will still help make your resume stronger overall.
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Tweak Your Resume To Fit The Job Description
Wait! Before you write this step off because you’ve already spent hours perfecting one version of your resume, listen up. Tailoring your resume to each job listing doesn’t mean you have to rewrite it entirely. You should, however, tweak your resume summary and your work history to reflect the skills and experiences a company highlights in its job posting.
The more specific you are, the better, and usually that means tailoring or even slightly tweaking your resume to better fit the particular job you’re applying for.
Related:;Ask Amanda: How Are a Resume Objective and a Resume Summary Different?
How Do You Write A Great Resume
You can write a great resume by paying attention to the specifications in each job posting and tailoring your resume to every job you apply for. Make sure you are concise, honest, and that your resume is free from errors. Only include the most relevant information and never apply to multiple jobs using the same resume.
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Do: List Volunteer Experience
If youre short on work experience but youve done some volunteering, this can be its own section. Its a great way to list additional skills and responsibilitiesplus, sharing that you built houses for Habitat for Humanity or ran three charity races last year gives hiring managers additional insight into who you are. Within this section, list each of your volunteer positions the same way you do your paid jobs, with your title , the organization, dates of service, and your accomplishments.
Dont have any volunteer experience? Sign up for something now! Even if youre stuffing envelopes or hanging flyers, that experience is one more line on the page than you had beforenot to mention valuable experience.
From One Paragraph To One Page: How To Beef Up Your Resume
Did you catch the recent Office episode when Pam was applying for a new job? After spending pretty much her whole career at Dunder Mifflin, her resume was a blank page with a few lines on ittext so brief that it could fit on a Post-it note.
Sure, it was funny but for some of us, it hit a little too close to home. You often hear the advice, keep your resume to one page, but what if you type out your education and work experience, and you still see a half page of white space left?
Dont worry. Whether youre right out of school or youve been at the same company for years like Pam, here are a few strategic ways to fill up that page.
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Personal Or Academic Projects Relevant To The Job
You can also list personal or academic projects relevant to the job you are applying for, such as a group project at school or a neighborhood summer bake sale. You just need to relate your projects with how you are a good fit for a companys position. Before writing a project down, think about how you will explain its relevance during an interview.
Tailor Your Resume And Optimize For Applicant Tracking Systems
Its very easy these days to fire off your resume to dozens of jobs, but if youve tried this method, you may have been disappointed by your success rate. Thats because you didnt take the time to customize your resume for each individual roleand recruiters can tell.
The most impactful thing you can do to improve your chances of getting interviews is tailor your resume to each and every job. Customized resumes that align with job requirements and include keywords from the job description will stand out to recruiters who often receive hundreds of resumes for each role.
When you tailor your resume to the job, youre also optimizing for applicant tracking systems., because many ATS allow recruiters to filter and search by keyword. Want to see if your resume is well-tailored? Use Jobscan to see your match score and discover missing keywords.
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Dont: Stray From Standard Margins And Font
So what if, even after all of the tips above, you still have a half page left over? While having some white space is OK, don’t go to extremes changing the margins and font size to make your resume look bigger. This is obvious and comes off as unprofessionallike you didnt think you had enough to fill a page or youre trying to fool the hiring manager. If youre really at a loss for what to include, consider including your website or social media profiles or listing your references at the bottom of your resume.
Above all, though, dont let these early resumes intimidate you. Everyones been in your shoes at one point and hey, the only way youre going to grow your experience is one position at a time.
How To Save Your Linkedin Profile As A Resume
Related:
After logging in to your LinkedIn account, click the Me dropdown menu at the top of the page. Then, select;View Profile to load your profile.
On your LinkedIn profile, click the More option to the right of your profile picture. Then select Build a resume.
From the pop-up menu, click Create from profile.
Here, you will be able to fill the Job title field to find keywords in your resume and click Apply.
Otherwise, click the Skip option to load your resume without finding keywords.
LinkedIn then generates a resume for you. You can choose to Preview it to see how it will look as a standalone document.
To download a copy,;look to the upper-right corner of that page and click More.;Next, select to save your LinkedIn;resume on your PC.
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Linkedin Resumes: Not A One
While this resume hack can potentially save a lot of time, the end results wont work for everyone. Here are four things to keep in mind:
1. Your LinkedIn profile needs to be resume-worthy.
Some people put every little detail on their resumes, but skimp on the details in their LinkedIn profile. But LinkedIn isnt a secondary option it deserves the same amount of attention.
Remember, hiring managers and recruiters dont just find candidates via website applications, they also use LinkedIn to search for people. So its important to treat your LinkedIn profile almost the same as your resume.
2. Take advantage of the LinkedIn headline.
Your LinkedIn headline is valuable space, but many people dont use it correctly.
Instead of creating a flashy headline like Experienced Online Marketing Professional, use this space to highlight at least five key skills you want to leverage in your next career opportunity.
3. Display your most impressive accomplishments.
The experience section of your LinkedIn profile should mirror your resume, with a strong focus on your quantifiable accomplishments .
Make sure they all go hand in hand with your skill sets.
4. Dont forget to include other relevant information.
The rest of your profile is pretty standard and should include things like your education, degrees and certifications, professional associations and volunteering efforts.
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What Do Employers Think About Employment Gaps
There are two factors that really make gaps worrisome for hiring personnel: when you were unemployed, and how long the unemployment lasted.
For example, if you were unemployed for a month or two twenty years ago, odds are that your prospective employer wonât care. On the other hand, if the gap was more recent and longer in duration, you need to have a plan to address this concern.
Employers also want to know the reason for the employment gap. If you have a habit of quitting your jobs, resulting in multiple gaps on your resume, youâre going to have a more difficult time explaining why your work history is so unreliable.
On the other hand, if you have a good reason for the gap, your unemployment on your resume will be far easier to explain. Good reasons include taking time off to care for your mother, or going back to school for an advanced degree.
In most cases, having one gap that is six months or shorter in duration is not a problem on. your resume.
In either case, most hiring managers are going to spend more time looking for a skills match and basic qualifications than looking to see if you have a perfectly linear career history. You can increase your odds of getting invited to interview for a job if your resume is optimized for an ATS scan. Make sure you’re ready for online job applications by using our free resume review tool!
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Sample Cover Letter Explaining A Layoff
âI spent 22 years working in the widget industry, with the last seven of those years employed as a senior floor manager. After the widget industry moved its operations overseas several years ago, our plant was closed and all domestic employees were laid off. In the time since that closing, Iâve completed to develop the skills needed for this job.â
Highlight Your Relevant Work Experience
Your work experience section is the most essential part of your resume because its the best representation of your qualifications.
If you lack formal work experience, however, dont worry. Simply title this section Relevant Experience and use it to highlight details about your volunteer work, extracurriculars, or relevant school coursework.
To create a logical and informative work experience section, list your relevant experience from most recent to least recent . For each job, list the following information:
- Your title
- Company location
- Dates of employment
If youre still currently working at a company, you can simply write , present for the employment dates.
A general rule is that each job title includes about 35 bullet points of your main duties and achievements working in that role.
3 parts of a strong bullet point:
- 1st: Action verb
- 2nd: Quantifiable point
- 3rd: Specific and relevant job duty
Example 1:
Trained5+ cashiers, managing their cash limits and guaranteeing quality customer service at all times.
Example 2:
Spearheadedthe development of the first media kit amalgamation for all company projects, increasing national sales by 8%.
One reason the above bullet points are effective is that they use action verbs to grab the attention of hiring managers. Describing your experience using strong action verbs helps illustrate to employers what youve accomplished and what kind of skills you have.
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What To Put On A Resume
What to include in a resume? Which resume sections to keep off? This complete guide outlines exactly which things to put on your resume to make it shine.
In 5 minutes you’ll learn what to put on a resume, but first think about this
You have years of skills, goals, work history, and education.
Youve only got an 8×11 piece of paper in front of you .
How can you squeeze all that into such a limited space?
Which resume sections are a must? Which to leave off? Where do you put what?
Well, the first thing to put is your mind at ease.
In this resume guide, youll learn:
- What should be on a resume, where to add it, and what not to include.
- How to structure a resume by using the best resume components.
- Other things to include in a resume and with your resume.
- How to write a resume for a job correctly using just the right resume sections.
Save hours of work and get a resume like this. Pick a template, fill it in. Quick and easy. Choose from
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