Tired of submitting your resume and crossing your fingers with little confidence?

Here are 6 easy steps to ensure that your resume is seen and your value in conveyed!

Avoiding Resume Gaps by Replacing Month and Year Notation with Just the Year

Trying to hide gaps in employment on your resume by only using years to note the chronological order of your resume may seem like a good idea but, most interviewers will view this as vague and it will appear that you are trying to hide something. The solution? Don’t allow for gaps on your resume by filling up your time in between jobs with volunteer, temporary, project or pro-bono work! Even a once a week volunteering role with a local charity will be sufficient!

Multi-Page Resumes  

With the job market as crowded and fast-paced as it currently operates, recruiters and hiring managers have limited time and a large stack resumes from other candidates to review that likely have similar skills than you. Want to make sure your resume gets screened and that you get called in to interview? Keep your resume organized, concise and only 1 page. Make sure every bullet point is worthy of the real estate it holds and that it is something you can’t find on any of the other resumes in candidate pool.

Don’t Let an ATS Destroy Your Resume (and Chances of Getting Hired!)

When your resume is submitted online into an applicant tracking system by job application site (ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn Jobs, Indeed, etc.)  or a company’s online application portal, complex designs (including infographics, images, clip art, and videos) are often mutilated and disoriented. To avoid being taken out of the candidacy process due to an illegible resume, make sure your resume contains the following:

• Use a standardized and simple resume format
• Written in a standard web font in black ink
• Does not contain graphics, clip art or images (other than a small headshot if desired)
• Uploaded in a PDF file format

Run of the Mill Verbs and Skills

Resumes laden with verbs like ‘strong’, ‘experienced’ or’ passionate’ are all too common, aren’t anything memorable and don’t do anything to convey the value you can generate. Additionally, including broad skills like public speaking, communication, Microsoft Office or anything that is not relevant, applicable or transferable to your target jobs can be a waste of valuable space on your resume and make your skills appear vague, average and not focused which limits your potential and doesn’t display your unique skill set.  To effectively avoid this pitfall and highlight your skills, be sure to use great action verbs to support your very specific skills and previous experiences.

Listing Job Descriptions Without Value Added or Quantifiable Data

One of the most common frustrations of our recruiters here at PACE encounter is when a candidate’s resume is essentially a list of generic job responsibilities and skills that don’t note what they accomplished while holding that responsibility or using a particular skill. Without knowing the impact you are capable of, skills and experience are much less valuable and you are less likely to stand out amongst other candidates with the same skills. There is a large difference between “Wrote blogs and press releases” and “Supported 5 product launches by crafting press releases and wrote 10 blogs on relevant information to support a 56% increase in sales”.  This concept extends to even food service roles, saying “Helped serve customers” or “Completed an average of 28 customer orders per day and increased average order sales by 15%” can be incredibly meaningful in career growth.

Generic Summary or Objective Sections

Your resume’s summary or objective is often what is read first on your resume and should be the ‘hook’ that captures a recruiter or hiring manager’s attention. This section is not the time to use boring verbs, generic skills or a simple “Seeking to obtain a sales role to grow my skills”. This is your opportunity to tie a (very engaging) bow around your skills and what you bring to the table, it essentially plays the role of an ‘elevator pitch’.