While it is absolutely in your best interest to have a professional create your resume when you are job hunting, sometimes opportunity knocks and you have to apply for your dream job ASAP. YIKES! When time is of the essence, try these quick resume fixes to help improve your chances of nabbing that interview!
- KEYWORDS: Scan the job application, do you see any terms used more than once? Are there responsibilities that can be expressed as one or two words, or well-known acronyms (like SEO)? Make sure these keywords appear on your resume.
- LOCATION: Do you want to work in Austin, but live in San Marcos? Leave off your address and simply write Austin, TX. The hiring manager doesn’t need to know how long your commute is. They are looking for ANY reason to thin their applicant pile. Don’t give them an easy one! (the one exception to this rule: New York and its many amazing neighborhoods)
- SPELLING/GRAMMAR: I know! I thought everything was automatic now too. But you might be using an outdated copy of Microsoft Office or use a similar but incorrect word, that’s spelled correctly. Copy/paste the text into an email or a notepad; the different font and layout will help you catch mistakes you’ve gone blind too.
- RESUME LENGTH: Change the font size and spacing and edit or add as needed until you have one FULL page. If you are a professional with 10+ years experience in your field you can have two pages if you absolutely need it, but make sure to use full pages. If you only have half a second page, edit down to one.
- HIGHLIGHT YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS: When listing your job duties, avoid starting sentences with “Responsible for” start each sentence with an action verb instead. Good luck!