Few things you can do that will improve your resume for all recruiters. Let’s call it a polish; additions that can help your resume sparkle, and stand out to every recruiter, no matter what their preference. Some of these changes are big, others are small, but they have one thing in common: they’re effective.
So before you apply for your next job, it may be worth taking a moment and considering adding one or more of these to your resume…
- An aptitude for continued learning
There are many things that recruiters hope to see on applicants, and it’s important to include those– some of which we will discuss soon. However, it’s also important to avoid what recruiters don’t want to see. These are the signs that are a red flag to recruiters, and there’s one in particular you have to go to great lengths to avoid.
What recruiters don’t want to see is someone who has entered into their career and then done very little to improve themselves. Continual learning is the best way to demonstrate that you know you are not the finished product — because no one is! — but that you intend to keep improving yourself.
There are various things you can do to achieve this. If you’re already highly qualified, then you may want to consider vocational courses that can expand your knowledge in your chosen field. For example, if you work in coding, then you may want to consider learning a new programming language and receiving certification for it.
If you’re resume is a little light on qualifications, then you have even more scope for polishing it up. If you have a Business BA, then you can take the next step and complete an online Master Certification, which is beneficial both for what you will learn and how it will look on your job applications. If you don’t have a degree, then this may be something you want to pursue, provided you choose a subject that is genuinely related to your career goals.
Showing that you have a continued appetite for knowledge and self-improvement will impress recruiters, and reassure them that you’re looking for a career rather than just another job. If all of your qualifications and experience are out of date on your resume, that tends to be a bad sign, so invest in improving this area– you should see a better response to your applications as a result.
- Good formatting
It may sound strange, but good formatting on your resume is something that is important to recruiters. These are people who have to read through endless applications, some of which will be badly formatted and contain spelling errors– these are applications that will largely be dismissed without reading. If you can ensure that you have good formatting, then you stand out from the crowd and ensure your resume has a good chance of being read.
Here’s a few things to consider:
Use lines to separate sections, as they help create distinction between each area of information, and this makes the entire document easier to read. If you don’t know how to insert lines into a document, then here’s a guide for Google Docs, and here’s one for Microsoft Word.
Use a standard font rather than something more esoteric. Arial; Times New Roman; Verdana– anything other than these is going to make your resume harder to read. There’s a reason these fonts are standard, and it’s their readability, so don’t deviate too far from there. As for font size, this should be 11pt or 12pt.
Use bullet points– you can see this in action right now. If all of this information in this section was in a single paragraph, it would be dense and difficult to read. By inserting bullet points, it’s easier on the eye, and the information contained is able to make important points in a concise way.
If you have a well-formatted resume, then this is going to be noticed by recruiters– and the entire job application process is all about standing out from the crowd.
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