10 Tips for a Winning Resume

According to an HR professional, a resume has only 10 seconds to make an impact on the HR executive. Only 10 seconds! Even the everyday commercials that we see get more than 10 seconds to sell their detergents and soaps to us.

You have to utilize these seconds and sell your abilities to the potential employer because if your resume fails to make an impact in those crucial seconds, you know where it is going.

Here are 10 tips on how to make a killer resume and increase your chance of landing that dream job:

1 – Define your resume objective: Instead of creating a standard resume for each employer, create one for every organization you are applying to. You should know your target employers. What are some of the issues and troubles they face? Identify industry trends and organization problems and through the use of your skills and experience, highlight how you will be profitable to the company.

2 – Make use of effective titles: Your resume will get shortlisted if it has the buzzwords relevant to the job. Skill headings that match the job, communicate the message more effectively.

3 – Tailor your resume to the keywords used in job description: You should go through job descriptions and analyze them to identify the keywords and use these skill descriptions to create a powerful resume. You can take cues from the keywords used in job ads and make matching headings in your resume.

4 – Do not just state the achievements – add a number to them: Your achievements will have a better impression if they make use of some numbers. Instead of saying ‘Increased the sales of the soap division’, state ‘Increased the sales revenue of the division by $90,000, by 56%’.

5 – Omit experience if you want to: If a work experience is not relevant to your current job opportunity or is one which you are not that proud of, avoid mentioning it on the resume.

6 – Include power words in your resume: Using numbers to quantify your achievements and keywords to make your resume a seller catches the attention of the HR manager. Next, include the power words to relate your resume to the position you are applying for. If you are moving to a managerial level position, make use of management oriented words to sell yourself through the resume.

7 – Target your resume and cover letter to the audience: In a resume and cover letter, you should pay attention to the skills requested by the employer. If, for instance you wanted to go for a customer service position originally but came across an opening in a retail management setting, edit your resume to match the position.

8 – Prioritize resume content: Sort you skills and job responsibilities on resume according to job relevance and importance.

9 – Do not include any technical jargon: Do not assume on your own that the person, who reads your resume for the first time, will be aware of all the technical words.

10 – Back up your strengths on resume: Instead of making your strengths and qualities appear dull and made – up, try connecting them with real – life examples and professional experiences. This will increase their credibility instead of making it appear as inflated.