What’s the difference between a decent resume and a truly stellar one? A killer resume is more than a list of your experiences—it’s a package that shows off who you are and why you’re a qualified candidate for the job.
So we asked our expert to take her red pen to a mediocre resume and turn it into something recruiter-ready—see for yourself with our slideshow. Then, read on for tips on creating a resume that gets noticed, not tossed in the trash.
7 Tips for Revamping Your Resume
1. Find a Professional Font
As fun as it might look on the page, now is not the time to use weird fonts. Unless you are working in a creative field where you should be showing off your style, stick to something classic. Times New Roman is great go-to, or try a serif font with a little more individuality, like Book Antiqua or Lucida Bright.
2. Put the Good Stuff First
The real secret to a good resume is focusing your reader’s attention. In an ideal world, recruiters would read every word on your resume. In reality, that rarely happens. I’ve screened hundreds of resumes, and though I’m more meticulous than most, I’ve been surprised by how many I nearly tossed, only to find something truly interesting buried at the bottom of the page.
Also, the biggest mistake is to use chronological order. Why lead with “Babysitter in High School” when you could lead with “Strategic Planning Analyst?” Even reverse chronological order (which is more common) may not give you the flexibility you want to highlight your best and most relevant accomplishments.
3. Be Specific
You increased recruiting? Give us the percent increase. You raised money for charity? Tell us how much you raised! This can turn average-looking experiences into impressive head-turners and help distinguish you from other candidates. The flip-side of that is that specifics can also make some accomplishments look worse. If you only raised $150, you might want to think twice before including that—it’s unlikely to impress a billion dollar company.
Hint: This is true of your classes as well. Mentioning relevant coursework can help catch a recruiter’s eye.
4. Vary Your Verbs
If every bullet in your resume starts with “Responsible for,” readers will get bored very quickly. Use this handy list of action verbs to mix it up!
5. Make Every Word Count
Unless you’re a tenured professor who needs to list every book and article you’ve ever published, your resume should be one page. While this limits the space you have to share your experience, think of it as a blessing in disguise: it forces you to focus.
You don’t need an equal number of bullets under each experience. You should be spending more words on your most impressive set of experiences. Moreover, if a job isn’t relevant anymore, take it out! You don’t need to prove that you’ve been employed since 1997.
Can’t make things fit on one page? Keep cutting it down. You can play with margins and font sizes a bit if necessary—but don’t overdo it. The point is to choose the right experiences, not squish them in. Plus, a dense resume is harder to read. And the harder your resume is to read, the more likely people will just skim it.
Hint: You can make the font size of the spacing between text smaller without losing legibility.
6. Proofread
Grammar or spelling errors in a resume can be the difference between the “keep” pile and the “trash” pile. At best, you look sloppy. Enough said.
7. PDF, PDF, PDF
This one is simple: PDFs look the same on any computer. Word documents, on the other hand, can show up with wacky formatting or spill onto a second page if opened with a different version of Word or on a PC vs. a Mac. Make sure companies see what you wanted them to see.
Photo courtesy of Charlotte West.
10 Comments on "Get Your Resume Recruiter-Ready!"
I’ve gone through tons of websites with resume advice. Honestly think this one is the best i’ve come across. Thank you!
Good point about the PDF; never thought of that before. Had always used Word files. Not any more!
Thank you! Clear, concise, with an excellent example of how to move from bad to good to great. I had beenagonizing over redoing my resume and after reading your article, sat down and got it done!
Some really good points here. It is amazing how many resumes are prepared in a hurry and sent out.
Your checklist can be a great tool to make sure resumes do their number 1 job – get the recruiters attention and bring you closer to the interview.
Thank you !
As a professional career coach and resume writer, I have to say this is one of the best resume writing articles I’ve read in a long time! Numbers 2 and 3 are my favorites!
Love the PDF idea and great job of taking a plain resume and making it look way better! I am going to cut mine down to one page using the format you used. Thanks!
Useful tips throughout. Never thought about PDF format. Action verbs are a nice touch.Thank you!
Nicely Done. I enjoyed all suggestions. Just what I was looking for.
Great Job. Please continue.
A very professional article. Nicely said and done.
I think the one page limit is ridiculous for some professions. In IT for example, many people have worked in multiple roles for multiple companies. If you are going to give examples of your work and quantify the benefits for each project, “it ain’t gonna fit”.
While the PDF idea is ideal for someone actually reading your resume, resume scanners will probably find it indigestible and discard it into the trash pile.
Like most articles, some good points and some … eh!