It’s the role of an executive recruiter to read resumes in depth and part of their professional livelihood to ensure that they don’t miss a key skill or passage of experience in a job seeker’s resume. The corporate line or HR manager often doesn’t have the same luxury of time. They will quickly glance through the resume looking for the key parameters required for the role and will usually sort the responses into three potential interview piles: yes, no and maybe.

They will often spend no more than five seconds glancing through your work.

If the resume is too long, too short, badly presented or illegible, the resume immediately goes in the no pile. If they can’t readily see what they are looking for on the resume it also goes in the no pile. This is where the job seeker has the right skills or experience for the job but hasn’t displayed them and this happens in almost every recruitment assignment. If it happens to you it’s unforgivable. Both you and the employer miss out on a great opportunity.

To be considered for interview, build an effective resume which will ensure you reach the yes pile. If there aren’t enough resumes in the yes pile, the recruiter will probably look through the maybe’s in a little more detail.

Depending on the recruiters preference, they will interview some or all of the yes pile.

Now you see the extent of the problem. It’s very easy for you to get lost in the five second screening test. Your resume must stand out. Here are 15 tips to ensuring that it does stand out in a positve way.

15 tips to ensure your resume stands out

1. Get focused on the objective of your resume

The objective of your resume is to win you an interview. It’s that simple. It’s not the life and times of your role. Keep it stylish, professional and succinct. Make it want to be read.

2. Know what recruiters look for

In the five second screening recruiters are looking reasons not to pick your resume. If they don’t see the labels they are looking for they will not put you in the ‘yes’ pile.

These labels are generally:

• Personal details (name location etc)
• Knowledge (qualifications, schools and universities)
• Skills (technical and technological)
• Experience (employer brand names and responsibilities, achievements)
• Career objectives

3. Make it relevant to the job or employer in question

Spend the time to make sure your resume fits the job application (or employer) otherwise you’re unlikely to win an interview. This means tailoring the skills and experience you have to the job or employer in question. It does not mean being liberal with the truth. If you have to do that then you are not right for the role.

4. It’s your advert – there is no right or wrong

There is no right or wrong. It’s your advertisement and your resume. As such, it should reflect you. If you engage a resume writing service ensure that you spend the time to review and be satisfied with the final document.

5. Style – You are a professional, make it look professional

Even though 99% of resumes are now delivered electronically it is still imperative that your resume is professionally crafted. When it comes to formatting, less really is more. Keep the fonts legible and consistent and maximise use of space. There is no need to include your photo to your resume but for those that do want to, ensure it is a professional mug shot. If you do prefer to stand out and send your resume via traditional mail, make sure that paper your resume is printed is of a quality grade.

6. Length – 3-5 pages max

Depending on the stage of your career, your resume should really be no more than five pages long. Remember, it only needs to get you to interview. You can provide additional information on request.

7. Structure – Ensure a mix between functional / chronological

American resumes tend to be ‘functional’ displaying skills and experience but they often lack depth and don’t equate experience with employers. European resumes tend to be chronological and often gloss over skills. Try to achieve the best of both worlds in your resume.

8. Personal details

You don’t need to put age by law but your potential employer will often try to guess. You can help them or hinder them. They will also want to know where you live and if you have a valid work visa. If it’s not obvious, state that you do. Whatever you do, put your contact details where they can be found.

9. Knowledge (qualifications, schools and universities)

Potential employers will be more likely to interview you if you have the right educational and professional qualifications and less likely if you don’t. You can’t do anything about this at resume preparation stage except document what you do hold in entirity. This includes what stage you are at and your pass rate. This is important at all stages in your career.

10. Skills (technical and technological)

If it’s not obvious in the body of the resume, often a brief paragraph detailing your technical and technology skills will help to sell you.

11. Experience (employer brand names and responsibilities, achievements)

Employers like to see who you’ve worked for. They want to see job titles and a concise description of responsibilities and achievements so that they can start to visualise how you can add value to them in this position. Help them by equating your achievements to the requirements of the job.

12. Career objectives

If you’re starting out in your career or wanting to make a career change then restate your career goals.

13. Referees

I would suggest that you leave referee names off your resume but include a line saying that references can be provided on request. In this way you have more control over the recruitment process.

14. Salaries

This is an emotive issue. Employers will want to know your salary but it’s unlikely to be a deciding factor on whether to interview so I would leave it off the initial resume.

15 Objective review

Once you’ve prepared your resume, leave it a day or so and then try and read it objectively with the image of the one hundred resumes in your mind. If you have a close friend who will give you constructive advice ask them to review it also. We would also be happy to give you our professional view.

“People rarely read your cover letter”

The audience gasped.

Jobseekers work so hard to get their message across in a letter.  They think this is the wrapper for their job application.   The icing on the cake that makes them stand out from the other applications.

Let’s consider a few things here from the receiver’s point of view:

• When sending your resume jobseekers tend to send this as ‘Resume.doc’ or similar and then also attach as a separate file ‘Cover Letter.doc’.  So you have already given the reader the power of choice….which document do they want to open when verifying your suitability for the role?
• The Recruiter or Hiring Manager receives 100 responses to a job advert.  They are looking to interview maybe 5 people for the job.  They have to read through the 100 resumes (and cover letters?)  They skim read the resumes online and maybe print the ones they are interested in for when they call.  Still no cover letter.
• The job description is a list of responsibilities for the role and the brief of what skills the ideal candidate will have…this information is typically in your resume?  So initial assessment is a matching game.

Some people argue that they need to use the cover letter as an introduction to their resume or an opportunity to point out their soft skills relevant for the role.  I argue that this again can be achieved with a Career Objective in your resume and clever use of document title.

The one thing this controversial statement did do was unify people on was this – job seekers need to tailor each and every application to the job they are applying.  So, amend your Career Objective paragraph accordingly.  Be smart when giving your applications a document title eg:
“ Joe Bloggs – Resume for Sales Manager Role with Apple.doc”

Some employers do request a cover letter – in this case you should most certainly produce one.  Show off your written communication skills as well as your suitability to the role.

One final challenge – spend the energy and time you would usually spend in your cover letter – by also adapting and tailoring your resume.  Your efforts should pay off.

Let me know how you go.

Why?

Prior to actually reading your resume, the employer or HR manager has identified the key skills they want, these will be both hard and soft skills. Then keywords associated to these hard and soft skills will be identified. Having these on your resume, will assure the reader you have the technical know- how to perform the job.

Many large business and recruitment companies have databases or systems which have automated a degree of the recruitment process. Employers are also increasingly searching resume job boards. Both methods rely on “keyword” searches.

Database searches also enable the searcher to narrow applicants by areas such as salary, post code or address and industry sector or phrases such as ‘ASX Listed’ or ‘Fortune 500′

When writing it is important to think about what and who you are applying to. What will they consider the most important skills and keywords?

What?

You should identify those most critical keywords for your application and include them as often as possible.

How to identify which keywords you should include?

Thinking through your audience and how they would refer to the most important skills is a good starting point. Think about writing your resume from their perspective. How would they see the opportunity and how would they communicate this?

Key words tend to be a noun related to both your hard or soft skills. Such nouns are attributed to your qualifications, job title, company, professional associations or software utilized.

There is also an importance on verbs or the “how” you completed a task. Such verbs also form the basis of keywords which are searched. For example: staff management, may be “autonomous management”. In a more competitive market, the “how” or the action you took to complete a task becomes more essential. This is why listing your achievements in the body of your document is important.

The more keywords you include, the more you will appear to be a good match. Generally, databases will fail to identify those who do not meet all the identified ‘keywords’ and those who incorporate most or all of the keywords will certainly appear the strongest applicant on paper and be the first to be called for interview. If you can, throughout a 3-5 page resume or CV try to have at least 20-25 keywords incorporated throughout.

The more specific a keyword is for a particular role or industry, the more credence it will carry. This is why it is important to include even the most basic of terms where they may be considered an essential skill. Do not try to “dress up” a skill for that reason. For example “recruitment” maybe a keyword I am looking for, although I could label this as “talent management” or “talent acquisition” if I use the later and these aren’t the keywords being searched I will potentially be missed in the selection process.

Another example of this: the key skill maybe “business development” if I don’t include this keyword but rather utilize the phase “cold calling” or another more casual term then my application maybe over sighted.

The message here: knowing and understanding who you are applying to will help. If I know I am applying to a recruitment consultant then “cold calling” maybe a keyword however if I am applying to an HR manager or sales manager potentially the term “business development” will be more appropriate.

Be aware that in the same way a phrase such as “team management” maybe a keyword an abbreviation may also be a keyword. Try to prevent making your resume too informal by using too many abbreviations. But, prevent being missed out by not including any particularly as they are commonplace for qualifications.

One method to prevent being over sighted is to state the full name and then the abbreviation in brackets. From then on when you repeat the use of this keyword you can use either. Example: Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) then continuously refer to as CIMA.

If you expect your reader to be a non technical person with little understanding of a qualification or abbreviation then be careful not to reduce your resume to a list of bullet pointed abbreviations.

How?

If the process is partially or fully automated or if the person involved in the recruitment process is scanning for keywords, then how can I identify which keywords will be searched?
You can gain an idea through the advertisement or the job specification. The recruiter or hiring manager is summarizing the role through a job description or advert. So whatever has been summarized is considered essential. Be sure to address such areas and any words which are repeated, are likely to be considered key words.

Looking through other advertisements for related positions can provide an insight to the soft and hard skills in demand, these will have keywords associated which are probably industry specific, include them wherever possible.

Note to self, any skills you have you but which you are not looking to develop further try not to emphasize and avoid using as keywords. Otherwise you will find yourself constantly approached for roles which you are not interested in. The more advertisements you read and agents you speak with the more information you can gather about what’s in demand. Create a list for yourself so you can be sure to cover these off in your application and again in interview.

If possible, it is also beneficial to speak with the person recruiting the role; they will hopefully be able to highlight the most essential areas and may even utilize the keywords making your life very easy! Make sure you re iterate such areas and keywords.

Generally the best way to highlight keywords in your resume will be by using ‘bullet points” remembering that in most first instances, your resume will be skim read. Repeating such keywords will then further emphasize the skill and even better, provide an examples of achievement you have had which addresses the “how” you utilized such a skill.

You should compile a covering letter/email or career summary which is best included at the top of your resume is another great place to include as many keywords as possible. Most commonly the reader will form an impression of your resume and whether you are suitable for the job based on your front page or within the first 10 seconds!

In extremely systematized database searches potentially only the first 150 words maybe scanned depending on the size of the search. The assumption is that the most relevant content will be at the top of your document. Once you are satisfied that you have included keywords in your cover letter/email or career summary you should continue to utilize these throughout the body of your resume/CV.

You will find various online tools which will help you trial the effectiveness of your resume and the keywords in it. Ask for feedback on your resume, work out which words have been successful in application and be sure to change those which aren’t effective. Online tools such as linked in and online web marketing material can help. Online candidate websites enable you to post and have your document ’searched’; this is a means for knowing how effective your resume is. If you are not gaining any interaction or being approached via such sites then chances are the keywords you have used are not effective.

1. Online applications

Whilst there are several methods, particularly if you think creatively, the most preferred method continues to be online. This is preferable due to the automation of most recruitment processes.

The recruitment process can be extensive. Delivering your resume or CV online is the quickest method and most user friendly for automated systems. Your details can be stored and accessed centrally by whoever needs to be involved in the process. Certainly this is the stand out option when dealing with a recruitment agent or HR department of a large business.

The other advantage to an online application is you can easily start to build a relationship with a company or recruiter. You can regularly send in your updated details which will enable you to continually be in touch with the market. You details will be in a database regularly searched whether you are active or not.

If you apply and distribute your details online, you can expect that the response you receive back will be online also. It is likely that you will receive receipt of your application via email or via an auto response. If you are successful or unsuccessful with your application you may find you are advised via email or automatic response. Recruitment systems have been designed to support larger applicant volumes and again help to speed up the process.

When applying online, you do need to include a cover email or attached cover letter which is formal and appropriately addressed using professional font and which is equally quick and easy to download. Another consideration is the email address you use to apply, keep it professional you don’t want judgment or comment passed.

If you would prefer to speak with someone about the process and the application, you will need to initiate a phone call. Similarly, if you are looking for feedback on why you were successful or not, then it may be left to you to enquire. Increased volumes in applications have made it hard to personalize the process until later stages so, ask or you won’t receive!

Sometimes job seekers feel that dealing with a greater the number of agencies will increase their chance of securing a role. There are two sides to this argument. Recruitment agencies will have a number of relevant jobs at any one time. So increasing the number of agents will increase your exposure to the market. Whilst this may be true, it is also worth noting it is important to develop good relationships with the agents whom you deal with. Have quality not quantity, it is time consuming to circulate your resume to every agency. It is true that the bigger the market you are attacking, the more agencies you need to deal with.

2. Online Job Boards

There has been a surge in the number of candidate online job boards recently. Savvy recruitment consultants and HR departments will post advertisements and search on job boards in the quest for the right recruit.

Make sure, that you familiarize yourself with industry specific and generalist candidate boards and online networks. This will increase your “visibility” in the market. You are commonly able to appear ‘anonymously” on such online boards if you choose.

The key to ensuring this method works is keeping your details up to date. If an employer finds you but notices your details are outdated, it will be unlikely they decide to approach you.

3. Online interactive sites

A less conservation approach is using more social online means such as YouTube. Here your career history is not written! It may be a recording selling your highlights. If you choose this method, keep it interactive and concise. Is someone really going to take the time to download a large file or listen to a 1hour recording? Think of the first 5 minutes the same way you do the front page of your resume or CV. There are more elements to consider with this method such as your image, articulation and what you name and save your recording.

4. Companies directly

It is important to consider companies which you would like to work for. If you have a target list, you are able to visit the company website and search for vacancies available. Again, the process is all online. You will make your enquiry and upload your details directly to their database. If this is a method you pursue, you need to be prepared to negotiate directly with the company.

Once again, this method can provide exposure across a business. If your skills appear suited to another division within the company, you will find it is likely that the receiver will forward your application elsewhere within the business for consideration.

5. Print media

Print media continues to be a resourceful source of information; you will find a variety of advertisements by employers and agencies within the classifieds and also within career magazines or career sections of the paper. Here, you find direct contact details for the person looking after the recruitment process.

Write a cover letter addressing this person directly and be sure to incorporate your objective and evidence of the research you completed to make your application a stand out!

6. Your network and then their network

Why not circulate or voice your career plans through your own network? You can do formally or informally, face to face, via email or on the phone.

Update your previous managers, colleagues, peers and friends; they will be happy to articulate your plans further. What a great way to increase your network – 6 degrees of separation after all!

The strength of an application via recommendation and personal referral is unquestionable, without doubt you will be a preferable applicant should this method successful.

Another slightly bolder method would be to go along to networking events, act as your own advertisement! Make more connections then when you have comfortably established these, articulate your interest and plans.

7. Paper Applications

What if you are not applying to a vacancy but have identified a target list to approach? Many job seekers still like the concept of being able to send a resume and introduction letter in the post directly. It is not so common these days so will certainly help you to differentiate yourself!

If you prefer to send a paper based application, be aware they can get lost on a busy desk and are harder to keep record of. Some firms and contacts will also find these slightly antiquated. If you are finding a poor response rate this maybe why, so spend some time online instead!

The way you represent your resume or CV and distribute it should be aligned to trends in the market. Don’t just assume that the method which worked for you last time you secured a role will still be the most effective. The best way of distributing and reaching a widespread audience at this stage is without doubt online.

Prepare

A powerfully written, visually appealing, impressive resume is the one most likely to win an interview. The best way to achieve this is with a stylish and concise resume that highlights you and your accomplishments. It should also emphasise your most favourable attributes and demonstrate the value you can add to the job and the organisation. Consider your resume as your personal sales document. The best way to write your resume is to use out extensive step by step guide on how to prepare a great resume.

Example Resume
IT Sample Resume Template
General Resume Template

Layout

• Your name and contact details
• Education – education and training are important to employers and so you should list your degree(s), relevant courses, date of graduation and the educational institutions for each
• Professional qualifications – your professional qualification(s) designation(s) (with full name if uncommon) together with date of admittance or qualification
• Technology skills – include advanced technology skills that could be relevant to the position in question or organisation, together with level of proficiency
• Language skills – include languages, with degree of proficiency on reading, writing and speaking
• Career summary/objective – this should be a short paragraph of 15-20 words describing who you are, what you have achieved to date in your career and what you are looking to achieve
• Dates of Employment – (From/To in months and years) with employer and job title
• Employer – With a brief description of their business
• Responsibilities – You should briefly outline the scope of your current job’s responsibilities, as this will describe to the reader the level at which you work
• Achievements – This is where you should put most of your effort as your achievements indicate the value you added to each role and employer and thus potentially can add to a future employer. You will be asked about your achievements in an interview.

Once you have structured your resume properly the next step is to learn how to sell you achievements and get those job interviews coming in.

Spelling and Grammar

Poor spelling or grammar can ruin an otherwise stylish and competent resume.

Update regularly

At least once a year you should review and update your resume, even if you are not actively seeking a new position.

Example Resume
IT Sample Resume Template
General Resume Template