Kickstart your career: 7 tips to a winning resume
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Women
Self Improvement
5 MIN READ

Kickstart your career: 7 tips to a winning resume

May 3, 2021
Shaira Antoinette Jutie

Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash

The very first channel for a new company to get to know about you is your resume. Creating your very first resume or updating an existing one can be really challenging, because, as they say, “first impressions last.”


Make your resume deliver a great first impression of you. Get more chances to be called for an interview by doing these things:


1. Aim for conciseness

You may have done a lot of work and gathered various experiences over the years, but it’s important to keep the details of your resume as brief as possible. Hiring managers don’t spend a lot of time reviewing resumes — especially big companies where you could have a lot of competition.

Include work experience, education, and skills that are most relevant to the post you are applying for, so the employer could focus on these important details.

Use active voice and remove any articles, parentheses, and unnecessary dates on your resume.


2. Incorporate keywords stated in the job posting

Be sure to carefully read and understand all the given details in the job postings that interest you before sending an email. Look for keywords that the company is looking for in their ideal candidate, and include them in the experience or skills section of your resume.

(These keywords are usually found in the requirements and qualifications sections of the job opportunity.)


3. Share more details about your experiences

Simply stating what you’ve done in your previous jobs can only take you so far. Write about how you did it and how you helped your previous employers with your work.

(Use statistics when talking about the results you achieved to get the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.)


4. Use the reserve-chronological format 

Your experiences or work history should be listed from your current or most recent role, and go back. It is recommended you should not include any work experience that happened more than 15 years ago.


5. Don’t forget to include soft skills

According to National Soft Skills Association, 75% of long-term job success depends on people's soft skills. On the other hand, the Society for Human Resource Management states that 65% of HR managers shared that they would hire someone with strong soft skills despite the lacking hard skills.

Since soft skills relate to our emotional intelligence, it's not a one-size-fits-all. Don’t worry if you’re making a career transition.

Top soft skills include:

- communication (written and verbal) since a good one is a key to most marketing and management careers

- adaptability (especially to startup companies)

- time management (where you use the time to work productively)

- creativity (where you don’t just relate to art but also being able to bring new solutions to old problems)


6. Add some style

While not all industries would require you to have a thoughtfully-designed resume, adding a bit of style won’t hurt and could trigger the curiosity of the employer. Using two complimentary fonts and sizing each section appropriately will make your resume more interesting. Make sure that employers can still read the details easily.

If you’re leaning towards a more creative field, your resume is an opportunity to show that you’re creatively capable of expressing your own story through a pleasing design and creative wording of sharing your experiences and skills.

7. Proofread and finalize

Proofreading your entire resume will ensure that it’s free from any grammatical and spelling errors. Don’t rely on spell checks too much; read your resume aloud so you could go through it word for word.

It may be a lot to take in right now, but dedicating several hours to solely edit and proofread your resume could really make a difference in your job-seeking experience.

When you think that your resume is good to go, pair it with a well-written cover letter. This will definitely increase your chances of getting called for an interview.


Do you need help in establishing your career or business? BizScale can help you make this happen. Talk to us by completing this form, emailing sales@bizscale.com, calling 833-722-5310, or booking time on Calendly. Here's to starting a new path to success!


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