As a certified professional resume writer I know how hard it can be to write and edit your resume. Trust me, sometimes it’s hard for me to write and edit my own resume and this is my job! It can seem intimidating, but if you take it a step at a time, writing your resume is simple. Today I wanted to share three ways to improve your resume in five minutes or less. Yes, you heard that correctly, three ways to improve your resume in five minutes or less!
These simple tricks will drastically improve your resume and make your document more effective and efficient when you’re applying to jobs.
Move your skills to the top
Simply rearranging your resume and putting your skills at the top of the document immediately increases the effectiveness of your resume. Recruiters look at each resume for an average of six seconds each. That means you have six seconds to show that you are qualified and what you can bring to the table. When you put your skills matrix up at the top, this shows the reader exactly what you have to offer and highlights that you are qualified for the position right off the bat.
The quicker you grab someone’s attention and persuade them that you’re the right candidate for the position, the more likely you’ll be to get past the initial influx of applicants.
Add metrics and hard facts about your achievements
Because recruiters and hiring managers don’t have time to thoroughly go over every document, you need to make sure that your resume immediately reflects your achievements and what you can bring to the company.
Anyone can say that they’re great at their job, but very few people can actually show it. When you’re noting your achievements, think about how you can quantify what you’ve done. Some examples of questions to ask yourself include:
- How many people did you manage?
- Did you increase productivity or sales by a percentage or dollar amount?
- Did you save the company money?
- Did you secure any partnerships?
- Did you get awarded or recognized for anything?
- Did you work with any big budget or notable clients or partners?
The more evidence that you can provide to your claim of being a great employee, the stronger your document will be. By including hard metrics and facts, recruiters and hiring managers will be drawn to look at the numbers and immediately recognize your achievements.
Check for typos or spelling errors
Your resume should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. It’s as simple as that. Incorrect spelling, grammar, and typos could cost you the job. Why? Because it shows that you didn’t thoroughly go over your resume, and that you may lack attention to detail.
When you spend so much time working on and crafting a document, it’s easy to glaze over and miss errors. The best way to check for errors is to give yourself some time away from the document and look at it in a new light. If you’ve been working endlessly on your resume, give yourself some time away from it. Either sleep on it or give yourself an hour away if you’re in a time crunch. Fresh eyes will always catch something new.
Similarly, look at your resume in a different light. My two best suggestions for this are to print out your document and go over it on paper instead of on a screen, and then read it from the bottom up. By switching up the order you read the document in, you’ll be able to catch more errors because your eyes will see the text differently. This is something I learned in my exam to become a certified professional resume writer, so trust me when I tell you this tactic works!
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Tackling your resume doesn’t have to be as hard as it seems. These three ways to improve your resume in five minutes or less will improve the readability and the effectiveness of your document. Want a more in depth guide to writing the perfect resume? Check out my online course and learn how to write your perfect resume in five simple steps!