Taking Notes | Pexels Images

It’s amazing how a simple piece of paper can determine if you can land your dream job and yet most of us don’t pay too much attention to it. 

Here’s what a strong resume looks like:

IMAGE CREDIT: Goal Four Career Development Centre

It doesn’t have to be complicated, if you don’t know where to start, here’s what career experts suggest as essential tips:

• Stand Out First of all the hiring team’s time is valuable and a resume that is not presentable is quickly thrown away. Be consistent in your formatting. 

“Before I jump into the content, I look at the formatting. Did this person design the resume well? Is it easy to read? Is the most important section positioned on top? And most importantly, how does it look on mobile?”

 

~ Hillel Fuld Tech marketer and startup adviser

Goal Four Tip: Converting your resume that is a Word/Pages document to PDF does the trick. 

• Include your Contact Information As obvious as this might seem, this is one of the top resume mistakes people make. Remember the main aim of your resume isn’t to get hired, no, but do land an interview so include up to date personal contact details. You can also add your up to date LinkedIn or website that showcases your work.

Goal Four Tip: Keep it fresh, your story evolves and you need to reflect that. 

• Verbs, Verbs, Verbs Yes we wrote that three times. This era (Fourth Industrial Revolution) is for people who are actively doing things. Your resume is a marketing tool, the goal is to deliver specific information about what you’re doing or what you’ve done that made an impact.

Goal Four Tip: Traits associated with leadership are extremely valuable.

Case in Point: “I recently came across a post on Twitter, someone was complaining about not getting a response from a recruiter. When I took a look at the screenshots they posted, I quickly noticed their resume had over 6 pages, yet they have very little experience.

You don’t need to include everything you’ve done it’s distracting and some information is totally unrelated to the job you’re applying for.

Length matters. The longer your resume, the less likely an employer or recruiter is to see the parts you want them to see, let alone read it. The initial scan for your resume is 20 seconds, make them count.

When companies are evaluating candidates for open positions, sometimes they don’t only consider skills and experience but how you fit into the existing team and culture. Always put your competitive advantage (X-factor) and you can only do that by keeping it short and concise.”

 

~ Babusi Ngwenya

Like this article? Subscribe to Goal Four Foundation on Facebook

Don’t miss our new post on: Twitter, Instagram & LinkedIn