There is no shortage of information available on how to write a resume. Experts advise to use chronological, functional or combination formats. Some say you must cater your resumes to specific jobs. Others say you need a strong cover letter. None of this matters if your resume is not noticed. In writing a resume, like in other forms of communication, you must think of your audience – in this case HR and hiring managers. For any open position, hiring managers are overwhelmed with resumes and they have limited time to review them. So how do you make your resume stand out from the crowd?
Grab the reader’s attention!! Most HR and hiring managers wade through piles of resumes while under time pressure – grab their attention in the first 30 seconds by listing your applicable and marketable skills in a bulleted format as soon as possible – no later than in the first third of the resume. Use 8 to 10 bullets in a section called “Summary of Skills” to highlight your marketable skills in whatever field you work in. A reader will typically scan a resume, looking for specific skills – when they see what they are looking for, they will read on in search of supporting evidence of these skills.
Give evidence of your skills!! In the “Employment History” section where you list each job you have had, give bulleted descriptions of your responsibilities and achievements at each job. Be brief and direct in describing the responsibilities. Use power words such as achieved, completed, resolved, delivered…etc. to describe achievements. It is also helpful to give a brief description of your previous employers, their products or services, to give the reader context. In this manner, the reader will understand what service or product you worked with/in, and have a clear sense of what you were responsible for and what you achieved.
Understanding your audience is key in any form of communication – writing a resume is no different. Your resume is your voice, your way of getting noticed for a particular job. Having a solid strategy to get noticed may just get you the interview.
For more tips on how to make an outstanding resume or for assistance in finding an engineering position, call the experts at SoloPoint Solutions at (866)626-3322.