The Importance of a Great Resume

Having a great resume is crucial to a successful job search.

Without an impressive resume, your application will likely be overlooked by the company representative or recruiter in charge of reviewing potential employees. Your resume needs to not only impress the reviewer with your credentials, but you also need to impress with the visual layout of the document itself.

Creating a successful resume requires you to understand how it will be viewed by the recruiter or company representative, if at all. Remember that there are automated systems that will review resumes for keywords or certain phrases in order to complete an initial screening.

Passing that resume bot is the first step you need to ensure you take. Beyond that, highlighting the right credentials and making sure your resume is visually appealing can help your application reach the top of the pile.

What is the purpose of a resume?

A resume is a document that provides important details related to who you are, your professional experience, your education, your achievements and more. These details help a recruiter or company representative to determine whether or not you would be a good fit for the open position.

Based on the information you provide, the reviewer will decide that you are not at all the right fit for the role or that you might be the right candidate.

The resume is the first impression you give to a company, so it is of vital importance that you carefully write and format it. Since a reviewer might see hundreds or even thousands of resumes for a single role, you need to make your resume stand out above the rest. This means both content and visual appeal are important resume characteristics.

Also note that large corporations or very popular roles might require the use of a resume bot. Understanding how those bots work, what they look for and how you can write your resume for them is very important.

Who reviews a resume?

When you submit your resume as part of a job application, you should try to find out exactly who will be reading it. This could be indicated in the job posting itself or you might need to do a little research. The reviewer could be an employee or the head of the Human Resources Department (HR).

Or the reviewer could be an outside recruiter hired by the company to find the right person for the job. The reviewer could even be your new potential manager or director, based on the role and the size of the company.

Finding out who is reviewing the resumes submitted for any particular job opening could help you to cater your resume to that individual, or to that algorithm if a bot is involved.

How to Write a Great Resume

Writing a great resume requires several points to be taken into consideration. You need to remember that the content itself matters, but so does the format and layout of your resume. Spend time writing, reviewing, editing, and then going back through all of the details to be sure you maximize this opportunity.

You should not send the same exact resume to multiple job openings. Rather, try to use the specific keywords used in the job posting to make your resume match. Just remember to always be honest and never lie on your resume.

Simple resume tips like checking your spelling and making sure the formatting is all aligned can help you greatly. Writing a successful resume means ensuring there are no errors and that it looks very professional overall. A poorly written resume is not likely to get you the job, so take the time you need to work on perfecting yours.

You should take advantage of local resources to help you as well. You might receive help at your local library or business center, so be sure to check those options and ask for assistance if you need it.

What to Highlight in Your Resume

When writing your resume, you should remember to include certain sections that are expected within a good resume. These include all of the following:

Information About You: This includes your full name, your address and your contact details.
Professional Experience: Relevant experience for this position is important to include, with a special focus on the jobs you have held within the past 10 years.
Education: You should include details about your education, especially if certain educational standards are required for this particular role.
Certifications: If you have earned additional certifications that will be relevant to this role or industry, be sure to highlight those.
Awards or Achievements: If you have received any awards for your work that are relevant to this job, be sure to include them.
References: If the job posting requires you to include specific references in your application, be sure to include those details for the reference and his or her contact details.

Tips for a Successful Application

For a successful job application, your resume is of the utmost importance. You must make a good impression and make sure to highlight the reasons why you are the perfect fit for this role. But there are other considerations as well, including the following:

Never lie on a resume. This will eventually be uncovered and will not help you along in the process.
Edit, edit, edit. Carefully review what you have written to ensure there are no spelling errors or grammatical errors. Ask someone else to look at it as well.
Use the keywords from the job description. A job description is carefully written, so use those carefully chosen words in your own resume to show that you are a perfect fit for the role.
Make it easy to read. Bullet points and short, concise sentences are the best way to format a resume. Leaving some white space helps a reviewer to easily scan and identify the key points in your profile.

If you are changing careers or coming back to work after a gap in employment, adding a personal statement at the top of your resume might help as a further explanation.

Finally, when formatting your resume, be sure to use a simple, easily read font and make it an appropriate size. Making it easy to read for both humans and bots can improve your chances of getting to the next stage in the interview process.