If you’re looking for a job, what’s the one thing you’re going to need, no matter what job you want or what sector you want to work in? The answer is a resume. Every employer is going to ask to see your resume, and every employer is going to use that to determine whether or not to ask you for an interview.
It’s clear that this is a vital document, and you need to work hard to get it right – it’s not something you can just dash off in a few minutes and send away to a prospective boss (they’ll just pass you by because your lack of effort will be so obvious).
That’s why it’s so important to know how to present your resume so that it gets noticed and, hopefully, gets you to the next stage of getting a job. With that in mind, here are some things to consider when it comes to how to present your resume.
Choose The Right Format
You might assume it’s the content that’s the most important part of any resume, and that is true to an extent, but if you don’t choose the right format and look for your resume, you might find that the content doesn’t matter because no one actually gets to the point of reading it.
There are three main formats to use when you’re writing a resume, and they are chronological, functional, and combination, and one will usually be better than the others, depending on the job and industry you’re applying for. If you’ve got a good work history, using the chronological option is wise, whereas the functional version is all about highlighting your skills. Then there’s the combination which, oddly enough, is a mix of the two!
Write A Good Summary
Not everyone wants to write a summary of their resume because, after all, it’s all there in black and white, and an employer only has to read through it to find out what you’ve done and how good you are at various things. In other words, it can sound like a waste of time, and when you’re job hunting, time might not be on your side.
However, remember that your resume isn’t just about letting a potential boss know more about what you can do – it’s also about getting noticed and standing out, and if you put the effort in to write a good summary, that’s going to help.
You’ll make life easier for a hiring manager because they can quickly get a sense of who you are and why you’re right for the job, and they’ll remember that, putting you in a good position.
Plus, by writing a summary, you’ll have all the information fresh in your mind, which can be really helpful when you get to the interview and don’t want to be stumbling for answers.
Focus On Achievements
Most resumes list out all the various jobs and responsibilities that someone’s done in their working life, and that does make sense, but it’s not going to make you stand out, and it’s not necessarily what the recruiter wants to see. What they actually want to see is not necessarily what you did but how you did it, and that’s why it’s better to focus on your achievements rather than tasks.
By explaining what it is you’ve achieved, a potential employer can see that you’re a hard worker and serious about what you do – they can see that you want to go far, and that’s going to be impressive. Anyone can write a list of all the jobs they’ve done, but not everyone can show they’ve done them well, and that’s the vital difference.
Choose The Right File Type
When you’re sending your resume through email or through a website’s recruitment portal, the best thing to do is to save it as a PDF because not only will that mean it stays protected, but it also means that no matter what system it’s read on or what computer someone opens it on, the format will stay the same and there won’t be any embarrassing readability issues.
If you’re using Word, you can easily save the document as a PDF from the platform, but if you’re using a different program, you can learn how to convert doc to PDF in another way, and you’ll still get the same results.
It might not seem like a big thing, but if there are dozens or perhaps even hundreds of people applying for one job, you need to do what you can to differentiate yourself, and ensuring your resume is easy to read has to be a priority.
