How to get your resume seen by the right employer

If you are one of those job seekers who have typed “What should I include on my resume?” on Google, feeling a familiar sense of dread, this article is just for you. If you spend an hour on the internet, you will find some articles stating that you must add a resume summary, while others advocate for disguising career gaps. Then, there will be the articles that insist on keeping your resume to a single page, no matter the circumstances.

If you try to abide by all the resume advice that you find on the internet, you will come up with the worst resume ever seen by humankind. That is why you must always place your trust in resume advice written by professionals. If you have had trouble finding authentic resume advice, you no longer need to worry. We have consulted five of our expert resume writers to share their wisdom on the topic. So, without further ado, let's dive right in.

Learn to get rid of things

When you are writing a winning resume, you need to edit ruthlessly. Take a good look at the document. Are there details that don't directly support your job application for the role that you're targeting? Then, it is time to delete them all. Don't feel like deleting all of those information? Then you will have to consider rewriting them or rephrasing them in a way that aligns with the job description.

You don't need to erase your entire career history to fit in with the job description of the employer. Instead, what you can do is emphasize your experiences and skills in a way that resonates with the employers requirements. This way you can really use the part-time retail jobs you held during college to support your job application.

Remove the objective

Resume objectives were all the rage back in 2000s. Today we are more into resume summaries. Why have resume objectives fallen out of favor in the job market? The main reason is that they are redundant. If you are applying for a job with your resume, your objective for writing it is pretty clear. There is no need for you to waste valuable resume space restating why you are writing the document.

Instead, what you can do is to write a strong professional summary to go on at the top of your resume. You can even write a resume headline to go along with it. Use both the resume headline and resume summary statement to highlight your biggest selling points. Our experts recommend bringing out a bit of personal branding.

Create your skills section strategically

Place the key skills section of your resume toward the top half of the document so that hiring managers and employers can spot the important keywords at first glance. The skills section of your resume is a crucial element. The first thing you must keep in mind when creating the skills section is that less is more. Instead of creating a rambling key skills section that lists every skill you have had over the years, you can pick and choose the right ones to display on your resume. We suggest aligning your key skills section to the employer’s requirements listed in the job description. Use bullet points to display 10 to 15 relevant key skills on your resume.

Highlight your career progression

When you showcase your growth and commitment through your resume, you show potential employers that you have what it takes to rise up in the career ladder. Use your resume to narrate the story of your career journey. The work experience section of your resume may reflect how you have expanded in responsibilities, skills, and skills through the years. It is even better if you have climbed the ranks at a single company. You can use your experience to showcase important qualities such as loyalty and perseverance.

For an example, if you started as a junior accountant and worked your way up the career ladder as a CFO, You should at least each role separately on your resume. Highlight how your job title has changed over the years when you write your career history section. Then describe each job in terms of your professional achievements within that role.

Skip the headshot

Not every profession requires a headshot to be displayed on your resume. If you are applying for a job overseas, you will need to include a headshot on your resume. Especially if the job is in Asia. In the US, the tradition is to forgo the headshot on your resume unless required. This is because a picture can often get you exposed to discrimination. However, for certain jobs in the acting, modeling, and performance art sectors, you will need to display a headshot on your resume.

Focus on the quality and not the quantity

Your resume does not need to be a collection of 1000 little details about each and every single job that you have held. All you have to do is pick and choose the right jobs to display on your resume based on the job description of the position that you are applying for. If there are any roles in your past that do not really resonate with the target job title. You can leave them out of your resume.

This is something you must pay attention to, especially if you are an older job seeker. One of the easiest ways to fight ageism in the hiring process is to limit your resume to the last 10 to 15 years. Only display your most recent and most relevant positions on your resume to stay on top of the hiring market.

Personal branding resumes are the new black

All the time we see new resume trends emerging in the job market. Although it is not quite new, currently the trend in the job market is to create personal branding resumes. Personal branding resumes are unique to the job seeker. If you want to write a personal branding resume for yourself, you will need to find your unique value proposition. Once you have discovered what highlights you apart from the other job seekers, you can write a winning personal brand resume.