Top 10 Effective Resume Tips

It’s amazing how many of us make simple mistakes when it comes to writing a resume. Here are ten resume tips I’ve learned about writing an effective resume. Hope they help you.

1. Executive Summary is a must – Recruiters and hiring managers have maybe 20 seconds or less to read each resume, so make it simple for them and summarize, in one section, why you’re a good candidate for the job. This is one of the most important resume tips that many people don’t use.
2. Start with action verbs – When people don’t have a lot of time, they tend to read on the left-hand side of the page, so use juicy verbs that best describe your experience like, “led, managed, analyzed, researched, ” instead of boring verbs like, “did, worked, helped.” Which set of verbs would impress you more if you read it?
3. Spell Check – Duh. It’s astonishing that I actually have to include this in this list. I have seen a lot of resumes with spelling errors and it’s just not a great way to make a first impression.
4. Use consistent formatting – Even more people actually make this mistake. You may have the best experiences but if your resume looks sloppy and has an inconsistent format, it’s another thing that works against you. It’s like a good looking man showing up for a date in his sweatpants. You could be the best guy in the world, but the girl wonders whether you actually care.
5. Brag – A resume is a first chance for you to market yourself to a potential employer so you have to sell yourself like you’re a product. Take water for example, would you be interested in buying bottled water if it just said “plain water in a bottle”? What about if it said, “refreshing mountain spring water”? Also consider if you’re not describing your best experiences in an impressive way but other candidates are, who is more likely to get an interview?
6. Don’t lie – It’s one thing to describe your experiences in a favorable light, but it’s another to outright lie. A company will definitely not hire you if they find out you lied. Worse yet, you could become a story that circulates on the Internet if your lie irritated the interviewer enough.
7. Always include other interests – Add your hobbies and your passions outside of work. Interviewers are human just like you and I.  If you happen to have a hobby that coincides with theirs, you have another way to connect and make a lasting impression.  Especially in today’s market where so many people are qualified and applying for the same jobs, it’s important to differentiate yourself.
8. Be succinct – Remember the resume is only a teaser, so you don’t have to include every single experience – just relevant ones to the job you’re applying for. Recruiters don’t have time to read paragraphs so use bullets (Five bullets at most per set of experiences and 1-2 lines per bullet).
9. Have multiple resumes – Those who only have one resume and use it to apply for all jobs are either lazy or are super focused on only one type of job. Most of us tend to interview for a few different variations of jobs. In that case, tailor your resume to the job that you apply for. Don’t leave it up to the recruiter to figure it out. If your resume is too generic and another candidate took the time to tailor his resume for that job, guess who will get the interview?
10. Ask people for feedback – Set your ego aside and ask friends/contacts to give your feedback. It’s amazing how much your resume can improve. Ask at least two or three people – one that knows your work experience well (they can tell you if you’re selling yourself short), one that does not know your experiences well (they can tell you how you’re coming across), and someone in the field you’re applying for (they can tell you whether you’re using the right buzz words for that field).

Go through these 10 resume tips and see which one you still need to apply to your resume. It may take a little time but it will pay when you get more interviews.