Recruiters are reporting larger quantities of poorly written resumes than ever before, despite the great amount of resources available on the subject. If you are looking to make a positive impact and encourage interviews, consider the following important tips to crafting killer resumes.

1. Format Your Resume Carefully and “Do the Hiring Managers” Work for Them

No matter how cunningly crafted your resume will not be read in depth during the first cut. You must consider that your resume will receive only about 25 seconds and make the scanning process as easy as you possibly can. If your resume is more than two-pages long, hard to read or not well-organized, the scanning process will be that much harder.

Here are some things you can do to make scanning easier.

–           Apply logical formats, clear headings, wide margins and an easy to read font.

–           Use Boldface and Italic typefaces to guide the reader’s eye to important points.

–           Use bullets to present other key points in a list, accomplishments for example.

2. Identify Accomplishments not Just Job Descriptions

Hiring managers, and those in technical fields more than any other will be looking for candidates who can provide solutions and satisfy Specific needs. Therefore, you will grab attention if you can show how you have done this in the past. Include a list of specific solutions you have provided to solve specific needs.

–           Consider the difference between expressing what you did in a specific position as opposed to what your work was.

–           Include a line or two of your job description and then some of the accomplishments you made.

–           For each of these points express the benefit you provided in each situation.

–           Accomplishments should be things attained by your direct involvement not what others did.

–           Avoid using generic descriptions of the jobs or positions you have held.

3: What’s the most common mistake on resumes?

A: Making general and vague claims and using extensive industry lingo that does not clearly market the candidate. Think of a resume as a marketing document selling a prospective employee on the value of your Professional contributions.

Therefore you should:

–           Draw attention to specific achievements that paint a descriptive portrayal of your marketability.

–           As much as possible quantify your achievements in terms the hiring manager can appreciate. Think percentages, growth rates, and numbers of employees and, of course, dollars.

–           You can do this by asking yourself, what would have happened had I not done X? That is the value of your accomplishment.

4. Cater Your Resume for the Industry

Some industries like design and advertising professional will want to include plenty of creativity when assembling a resume. But this same level of creative license is not extended to those in the mechanical engineering field and anything but clear and crisp format will be quickly placed in the “no-call-back” pile.  

So, check and re-check your resume to ensure that it has been properly suited to the industry it will be addressing. Make sure there are no errors, the typeface is clear and the format impeccable. Here are some great tips on how to make your job application look professional

5. Replace your Objective with a “Career Summary”

Career Summary is a spot where you are supposed to provide a description of your professional personality and direction. Most of these begin to meld into the same insipid spiels like, “seeking new challenges in X position where my skills of A,B and C can be used to increasing profit margins”

Don’t underestimate the importance of catching your potential employer’s eye with something original that expresses how you will be a major asset to the goals and direction of the company.

6. Network. Network. Network.

For unemployed candidates, your resume crafting and distributions should be a full-time job. In today’s professional field, the vast majority of mid-level to senior-level positions will be filled through networking. This means you need to be making strong connections with everyone around you who is in a position to share insights.

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