10 Best Resume Writing Hacks to Help You Get Hired Faster

By Akshay Sharma February 9, 2023 LifeStyle

When we think about resumes, what comes to mind is a one-page document (because, after all, it’s a Resume and not a biography). This is what we’ve been told, right?) containing a summary of our previous employment history, education, and skills. It’s ironic how we keep on reusing that old and outdated resume we once made for every job opening, thinking that making a resume is a one-time deal, and then complain about not getting interview calls.

A resume is your first opportunity to pitch yourself to a potential employer and a creative, strong, and updated resume is the key to getting ahead in the race to land your dream job offer. In a job-market that is getting more competitive every day and a world that swears by innovation, you need to be ready to leave the ordinary behind and experiment with what’s trending- like, video resumes!

So, whether you want to attempt video resumes or give your typed resume document another shot, there are several tips and methods you should keep in mind to construct a pitch-perfect resume and have a better chance of succeeding.

Keep Your Resume Clear & Concise, And Information Precise

The aim is not to make your resume brief or keep it to one page, but rather to just highlight recent and job-relevant experience so that the employer isn’t distracted by small accomplishments and degrees from your first job you had 15 years ago. A resume that lists too many unrelated work experiences may look cluttered and take attention away from your relevant qualifications. So, embrace concision and make it easy for hiring managers to see why you’re the best fit for the position by including work experience, certifications, achievements, education, and skills most relevant and directly applicable to the job you’re applying for. Also, mention that how your skills added value to your past project or company; improved company’s products/services, maximized their profits, and increased their sales, etc.

Use Data to Testify Your Past Successes

Hiring managers tend to be more responsive to quantifiable achievements that can be backed with metrics and numbers. To help the recruiter understand how effective a role you played in your previous place of employment, use numbers to quantify your past success by noting, for example, how many products you sold, number of projects you undertook, number of people you supervised, customer conversion rate, increased sales percentage, and other such metrics.

Look For Keywords in The Job Postings To Get Past the ATS

Nowadays, the majority of businesses filter resumes using applicant tracking systems (ATS). Study the job description carefully and scan for keywords that refer to the qualities the recruiter is looking for in a candidate, then sprinkle such terms where appropriate in your resume to help your application get past the screener.

Instead Of Making Vague Generalisations, Employ Forceful Action Phrases.

You need to use the right language and stay away from generalizations like “Responsible for sales, making cost savings, communication, marketing, and so on” because they don’t describe your actual contribution. In order to sound confident and responsible, always give specific instances and define your roles using verbs like “improved” and “achieved.”

Add Links to Your Social Media Profiles

Nowadays, a lot of recruiters assess applicants using social media sites. One sure shot impress hiring managers is to maintain a professional social media presence on sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. Therefore, always include the URLs for your active blogs, Twitter accounts, and LinkedIn profiles that have business posts relevant to your industry. Social media profiles that are inactive or have too much personal information should be turned to private rather than being displayed on a resume. There are several job search app available in the market. Like a new next-gen job search app JollyHires enables users to embed their various social media profiles, such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, that are pertinent and frequently used by recruiters to evaluate applicants’ work and determine whether they would fit in with the company’s culture or not.

Include Volunteer Work

Including volunteer work can be a good resume booster. So, if you’ve volunteered with a known organization and worked for a crucial cause, then you should definitely put it in your resume. Adding volunteer work is a great way to show that you have a strong work ethic, are engaged with your community, and are able to give time to something more valuable than just working for a paycheck.

Don’t Get Too Fancy with The Font

To save the recruiter’s time and effort, your resume should be very readable and straightforward. The typeface size should be between 10 and 12 points, and it should be in a simple, professional, clean font like Arial or Times New Roman.

Include Your Certifications and Publications

If you work in a field like law, academia, research, or writing, you must include work that has been published under your name in order to demonstrate your expertise to potential employers and give them a sense of the caliber of your writing and research.

Resist the Impulse to Recycle an Old Resume

Even if you don’t have to start from scratch each time you apply for a job, it’s still crucial to customize your resume. Additionally, strive to tweak basic resume templates to make a resume that appears more unique and creative rather than simply sticking with them, no matter how professional they may seem. Also, check the formatting, paying particular attention to the font, alignment, and spacing.

Always Make Sure There Are No Spelling, Grammar, or Punctuation Issues in Your Writing

On your resume, typos, mistakes, and poor English usage can be interpreted as a sign of your sloppiness and carelessness, and the hiring manager may reject your application. Therefore, always double-check your work and have a friend, relative, or mentor review your resume to make sure it is error-free. Additionally, before pressing the “send” button, double-check the employer’s email address and make sure your resume is submitted in the format specified by the job description.

A resume is a vital document that can be leveraged to effectively market your skills and qualifications to potential recruiters. A strong and professional resume can help you stand out from the ordinary and pitch yourself effectively to the right employer.

Author Bio:

Sukriti Gupta is an Engineer by accident and a journalist-in-the-making by choice. She’s an ardent believer of the power of words, conversations, and poetry to change lives. She loves doing open mics and writing blogs with the hope that some day, some word written or spoken by her might find somebody at the right moment and change theirs. Coconut water and researching about the uncertainties, opportunities, and latest trends in the job market are her current obsession!