A key part of getting your foot in the door for a job interview is a well put together resume. Follow these four tips to make your resume stand out from the crowd.
1. Provide complete and professional contact information.
Make sure that the phone numbers, e-mail addresses and street address provided on your resume are actively checked during the interview process. When a businessperson contacts you about a job opening, he or she is looking for a quick response. If you provide a phone number with voice mail that you only check once a week, you are likely to miss out on hiring opportunities.
And speaking of voice mail, record concise and brief messages. Now is not the time to have a five-year old sing your voice mail message.
Also, look carefully at the e-mail address that you provide on the resume. Allergictowork@me.com or workonlyforvacation@howitis.com will leave a lasting impression in the interviewer’s mind; just not the right one.
2. Use action verbs and details to describe your accomplishments.
Which sounds better? Took part in five special events at work that raised money or Facilitated five special events that raised $700,000 for breast cancer research. The more specific and action-oriented sentence definitely wins. For lists of action verbs check out:
Oberlin College’s Big List of Action Verbs
San Francisco State University’s Action Verbs by Skills Clusters
3. Stick to easily readable fonts.
Arial, Calibri, and Times New Roman are good choices.
4. Have two people check your resume for grammar and spelling mistakes
Why do publishers employ editors? They know that authors need outside perspectives to catch grammar, spelling and context mistakes. The same principle applies to resume writing. Select two people with good proofreading skills to catch any mistakes that you may have made.
By following the four simple steps above, you will make your resume a cut above the rest.
Hi Sarah. Thanks so much for linking up this great post to my Sweet Wednesday Link Party! Good job and very helpful resume tips!
Have a Sweet Day.
Heather
MySweetMission.net
These are great tips, Sarah…I think any of them can get you immediately disregarded by a potential employer if you don’t follow them!
Thanks so much for linking up over at Moonlight & Mason Jars! I’ve had fun guest hosting this week and checking out all of the fabulous links. Hope you’re having a great week!
You are absolutely right, you can get immediately disregarded by an employer and never know because an employer is not going to call and tell the applicant.
Hello Sarah,
These are great tips. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
– Erin
Glad too. Hope that you have a great weekend.
Wow, this post came at just the right time, as I’m trying to update my resume!
Found your blog through Heather at My Sweet Mission!
Hope you have a great week!
Melody from Sweet Ivy Confections
So glad to the timing was good on this post. I am very passionate about all things job search related.
I was totally going to Pin this tonight while I was here but didn’t have a board to put in on so I tweeted instead 🙂
Shauna @ The Best Blog Recipes
Thanks so much. Am loving the Daily Blog Boost and am spreading the word and the love wherever I can. Thanks so much for your dedication and time.
Great tips! I did this post a while ago too as well as an article for the Smart Girls Group! 🙂
AJ | TheAJMinute
@TheAJMinute
Will have to check out the Smart Girls Group. Good to find a fellow blogger spreading the job search education.
Oh goodness! I used to screen resumes for my accounting department and I can’t tell you how many times I saw bigbooty81@hotmail etc applying for a job! These are great tips! Pinning. Thanks for sharing at All Things Pretty!
Crazy isn’t it. Those type of e-mail addresses really stand out on a resume and not in a good way.