What Hard Skills Should I Use On My Resume
Hard skills donât refer to difficult skills or areas of expertise: theyâre the objective technical skills needed to do the job a company is hiring for. You should list your relevant hard skills throughout your resume, such as in your professional summary, skills section, work experience, and education.
From the list above, the first five are hard skills.
The Ideal Ats Resume Length Is One Page
Aim for a one-page resume. These are more concise, well put together, and easier to skim. It also respects your hiring managerâs time by getting straight to the point and keeping your application free from fluff. Unlike two-page resumes, a single-page resume does a better job at making an impression.
Why Are Skills So Important On My Resume
Three words: Applicant Tracking Systems.
Nearly all companies use Applicant Tracking Systems to filter through resumes. These systems scan through resumes to look for specific keywords, such as certain skills necessary for the job.
The ATS scan summarizes your skills based on the keywords you chose on your resume. If the skills section of your resume doesnât exactly match the job description, your resume may be rejected by the applicant tracking system before it ever reaches a human.
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Put The Best Stuff Above The Fold
In marketing speak, above the fold refers to what you see on the front half of a folded newspaper , but basically its your first impression of a document. In resume speak, it means you should make sure your best experiences and accomplishments are visible on the top third of your resume. This top section is what the hiring manager is going to see firstand what will serve as a hook for someone to keep on reading. So focus on putting your best, most relevant experiences firstand then check out these five other marketing tricks to get your resume noticed.
Eight Tips To Keep Your Resume Concise
1. Avoid repeating information: Did you perform the same or similar job tasks for more than one employer? Instead of repeating job duties, focus on your accomplishments in each position.
2. Eliminate old experience: Employers are most interested in what you did recently. If you have a long career history, focus on the last 10 to 15 years. If your early career is important to your current goal, briefly mention the experience without including details. For example: Early Career: ABC Company — City, State — Assistant Store Manager and Clerk, 1980-1985.
3. Don’t include irrelevant information: Avoid listing hobbies and personal information such as date of birth or marital status. Also, eliminate outdated technical or business skills.
4. Cut down on job duties: Many job seekers can trim the fat off their resumes simply by removing long descriptions of job duties or responsibilities. Instead, create a paragraph that briefly highlights the scope of your responsibility and then provide a list of your most impressive accomplishments.
5. Remove the “references available upon request” line: Many job seekers waste the valuable last line of the resume on an obvious statement. Delete it.
6. Use a telegraphic writing style: Eliminate personal pronouns and minimize the use of articles when preparing your resume.
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Write A Winning Resume Introduction
Placed at the top of your resume, a well-written resume introduction briefly introduces your key qualifications and skills, and convinces employers to continue reading your application.
There are many different types of resume introductions used by job seekers today, including the:
However, the two most commonly used introduction styles are the resume objective and the resume summary.
What Not To Include On A Resume
Now lets talk about what not to put on your resume.
Resume writing is a study in succinctness where were challenged to summarize our entire careers in less than two pages. Theres no room for extraneous details. But brevitys not the only reason to leave off many of the items listed below. Some things, like unprofessional email addresses or resume objectives, can turn off recruiters and hurt your chances of landing a job.
Does your resume include anything on this list? If so, consider replacing it with measurable results and keyword-rich text.
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What To Include In Your Resume
Now that you know what not to include in your resume, take a second look at your resume to make sure it includes all the right elements to effectively tell your story and market your qualifications and work experience. Click on the following link to learn what 11 pieces of information every professional should include in a resume.
Not sure if your resume includes any of these mistakes? Let us help! Take advantage of TopResume’s free critique today!
Get Help With Your Cv
If you’re a student or recent graduate and you’d like help creating a CV then you can get professional advice from your university careers service.
During COVID-19 many university careers services have moved their programme of activities and events online to support students and graduates during the pandemic.
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List Your Social Media Profiles
Many hiring managers today screen candidates on social networks. Save them a step by providing your profile links on your resume. Seasoned applicants with a professional social presence would do well to include URLs for their LinkedIn profile, Twitter account and blog, if applicable.
“If, and only if, your social media accounts are filled with professional posts pertaining to your industry, listing them on your resume can be advantageous,” said Richie Frieman, author of Reply All and Other Ways to Tank Your Career. “They can show you have a strong network and are up to speed with modern-day marketing and communications practices. The hiring manager will see that you like to keep up with what’s happening and that you care about learning more.”
Your social profiles can be a powerful tool to supplement your experience and position as an expert in your field, but only if they are leveraged correctly.
If your social profiles are not professionally applicable, do not list them on your resume, and make sure they are set to private.
The Recommended Length For A Resume
There is no definite length for a resume. The variation in length depends on an individual’s education and experience. One or two pages is best for entry-level professionals who do not have much work experience. However, if you have a lot of work and study behind you, then a three-page resume is appropriate. Be sure not to pad your resume. A well-presented one-page resume can get you better results than a padded two-page resume, especially when hiring managers have to look through many resumes at a time.
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Describe Your Achievements Using Numbers And Percentages To Back Them Up
When possible, you should back up your achievements with numbers and percentages.
This is how you show the employer that youre a high-achiever.
To show you how this looks in practice, lets take an example of an achievement for a customer support agent:
Increased customer support ticket closing satisfaction rate
While this is definitely a good start, it doesnt actually mean anything. Anyone could say theyve done this – but theres a huge difference between someone who increased the satisfaction rate by 0.5%, and by 30%.
What if you rephrased it as:
Increased customer support ticket closing satisfaction rate from 47% to 72% within 3 months.
Now, this is a lot more actionable. The hiring manager can see how good you are, and how youd be an asset for the company.
In this case, its instantly clear that you know what youre doing, and your resume goes directly to the YES pile.
Create An Original Resume Template
While it’s helpful to refer to a professional resume template, don’t follow it rigidly, said Claire Bissot, SPHR and managing director of CBIZ HR Services. Employers appreciate originality.
“I often pass over resumes that match Microsoft Office templates,” Bissot said. “The templates are meant to be a guide to get started, but it should be expanded on to make it your own.”
Format your resume in ways that make you look good. For instance, Bissot recommended, if you advanced in a company quickly, draw attention to that growth if you excessively job-hopped, bullet those jobs without providing specifics, and detail more applicable positions. This will play to your assets.
When structuring your resume, make sure the information is presented in a logical order, said Veronica Yao, a former recruiter and current marketing and community manager at #movethedial. “A hiring manager read your resume starting at the top and ending at the bottom. However, if they don’t finish reading the whole thing and they often don’t you still want to ensure your strongest points come across.”
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Employers Consider Resumes With Pictures Unprofessional
In North America and the UK, candidates traditionally dont put a picture of themselves on their resumes. So when hiring managers come across the rare resume with a photo at the top, most find it strange or unprofessional.
Even if the employer isnt concerned about bias in the hiring process, including a picture of yourself is still irrelevant to your qualifications, and might be seen as a distraction from whats actually important: your skills, education, and work experience.
Tailor Your Skills To The Company/position
As you may have read in our other blog articles, it is always very important to tailor your job interview to the company and position you are interviewing with/for (for a more in depth look at our Tailoring Method article. This includes your resume and the skills you include on your resume as well!
As we mentioned before, the company will have a specific set of skills that they will require the successful candidate to have in order to do the job to their standard.
So as you might have guessed, it is absolutely essential that these skills make an appearance on your resume.
You need to spend some more time researching the company, and this means going through all of their various web properties including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Why?
Because they will leave clues about the types of people they hire, which will give you a better idea of the skills that you need to include in your resume. This especially applies to soft skills.
Ask yourself this. Do I have a similar skill-set to the types of employees they hire?
If the answer is yes, great!
If the answer is no read on!
And as we said before, REALLY dig into the job description to make sure you have a strong understanding of the skills that are required for the job, and make darn sure you put those skills in the skill section of your resume.
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Highlight Your Relevant Job Skills
Hiring managers are on the lookout for candidates who have relevant, job-specific skills. While listing a heap of skills on your resume doesnt actually prove youre skilled, incorporating your various skills into different sections will catch the eye of whoever is vetting your application.
For instance, you can showcase your hard and soft skills in your introduction and work experience section. And of course, you should also list your most valuable abilities in your resumes skills section.
Reach Out To Your Network
Arranging informational interviews with people you are connected to can also help your resume stand out, according to Schweikert. Most applications are submitted online, and the volume of resumes that hiring managers must sift through can be overwhelming at times so establishing a personal connection can help you get noticed, she says. Plus, if you are invited in for an official interview, you can bring up what you discussed at the informational one. You can say, hey I did a lot of research on the organization and met with Susie Q and they shared this with me,’ Schweikert says.
After your informational interview, you can reach out to that contact and ask that they glance over your resume, making sure to pose as many specific questions as possible about how you should tailor your resume to the company or specific role, Schweikert adds. For example, if you are struggling to decide whether to include your college activities on your resume, reaching out to your connection for advice can provide invaluable insight on whether that might be important to that company.
Kim also encourages informational interviews, as they are a great opportunity to learn more about an industry, company or specific role. There is also significant value in having someone else look over your resume. A second pair of eyes can bring a lot of fresh perspective, she says.
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Outdated Or Irrelevant Social Media Profiles
Do not include on your resume social media accounts that host unprofessional content, do not support your current job goals, and are not regularly updated. If you’re going to include the URL to a social media account on your resume, make sure it reflects your personal brand and serves to demonstrate why you’re qualified for the job.
In addition, create at least one professional online profile on sites like LinkedIn or GitHub and include the link at the top of your resume. If you work in a creative field, consider creating an online portfolio or blog that has a mobile-responsive design so employers can access your site from any device.
Related:
Good Skills To Put On A Resume
When somebody says the word skills to you, what immediately comes to mind?
For most people, the answer is things I am good at.
Typing. Woodworking. Public speaking Cartwheels.
Yes, all of the things listed above can be considered skills, but when it comes to the job hunt, you have to be selective as to which of these to include on your resume. Why?
Because the company you are interviewing with AND the job you are interviewing for both require a very specific set of skills in order for you to get the job done effectively.
Filling up the skills section of your resume with a bunch of skills that have absolutely nothing to do with the job you are applying for is basically just a waste of space.
This is why it is important that you understand how to choose the correct skills to include in your resume for 2021.
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A Resume Summary Statement
Your resume summary is another great way to quickly let recruiters know who you are. If a recruiter only has time to read one thing, assume it will be your headline and summary statement, and impress them accordingly.
You can think of your resume summary statement as an elevator pitch. Include a summary of your work history, skills and most remarkable accomplishments.
Note: A resume summary statement may not be the best choice for your resume if you dont have a lot of work history or relevant experience.
Find out more:How to Write a Resume Summary Statement
Irrelevant Experience And Skills
A great resume is customized for the job to which youre applying. However, removing years of irrelevant experience can cause work history gaps. And so the key becomes finding ways to connect your experience to the job. Its best if you can do this with relevant hard skills and keywords. Here are some blog posts that can help:
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This Is An Overview Of What To Include In Your Cv
- Name and contact details Placed at the top so nobody misses them
- Profile / Personal statement Hook readers with a quick sales pitch
- Core skills section Create a snapshot of your abilities
- Work experience Prove the impact you make in the workplace
- Education and qualifications Show that you have the right knowledge
- Hobbies and interests
This infographic shows you an overview of how these sections are arranged into the structure of your CV.
Try to stick to this structure as closely as you can.
Spelling Or Grammar Mistakes
Proofread and spellcheck everything.
You are very unlikely to get called for an interview if you have a spelling or grammar mistake on your resume and nobodys going to tell you either.
So you need to find it yourself, or have a friend proofread it carefully for you!
Heres a little trick if you proofread it yourself: temporarily change your resume to an unusual font before proofreading. It will help you spot errors .
Now youve hopefully gotten answers to your questions about what should a resume include, and youve seen the top things to leave off as well.
Theres one final step, though, thats going to get you far more interviews from all of this
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I Have Nothing To Put On My Resume Do This
For those with little working experience, few extra-curricular activities, or a shorter educational background, it can be daunting to put together a resume.
The good thing is that this means there is a lot of blank space to work with! How can you format your resume to make you look like a great potential employee?
Best Skills To Put On Your Resume For 2022
Caitlin Proctor, CPRW
26 min read
You have only one or two pages to earn an interview. Make your resume skills compelling by including the right skills in the right way!
One of your resumeâs main functions is to show off your skills. Modern resumes need to include the right skills to quickly prove to a hiring managerâand an applicant tracking systemâthat you are worth contacting.
By skills, we mean the technical and interpersonal abilities you need to thrive as a candidate. Youâre a talented and qualified applicantâhow do you choose the best skills to put on your resume?
Employers are looking for applicants who have both hard skills and soft skills. However, there are different ways you should talk about these job skills and include them on your resume.
Hard skills are specific and usually required to succeed in a job. You can describe how youâve used your hard skills to achieve certain results, using metrics and numbers. You may also describe your hard skills as certifications, test scores, or with examples of your work.
Soft skills canât be easily measured and are often open to interpretation. To display your ability, you need to offer examples of how youâve used your soft skills to succeed. Add these to your work experience section as bullet points or descriptive sentences.
Want to learn more? Read on to see how to find the best skills to put on a resume this year.
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