Every single day thousands of people apply for jobs. Thousands of resumes are sent by career seekers and sometimes one person alone can get hundreds of rejections too. There are even special resume writing services that help create the perfect resume that Hiring Managers expect to see. While we all have an understanding of what resumes are, very often, we forget to think of things from another perspective.
However, in most cases, before even getting a shot at an interview, your application gets rejected. Why? Because we forget to think from an employer's perspective. So we decided to bring to you important factors that pass through an employer and HR representative's mind while hiring candidates.
By keeping these tips in mind and modifying your resume, you will notice yourself getting shortlisted to the top a lot more.
Let's dive right in then, shall we?
Quick Keywords
Employers get hundreds of thousands of resumes every single day. Therefore going through every resume thoroughly and wholeheartedly is impossible. Most employers skim through multiple resumes looking for keywords and terms that apply to the role, company, or project. This is why ensuring that you modify your resume to incorporate keywords associated with the job profile will automatically raise your chances of being noticed and chosen for an interview.
Roles And Duties
Every job listing will have clear instructions on what the role and responsibilities of a job would be. Employers will look for the very same in the roles and responsibilities section of your resume too. Anything that deflects or seems to not have anything to do with the role will automatically result in your resume getting sidelined. So taking the time to reflect upon previous experiences with companies and rewriting them to be better suited for the job listing at hand needs to be done without a doubt.
Skills
Very often, employers find this section to be the laziest. "Why?" do you ask? Because most resumes have the same skills copied and pasted either from popular search engines or previous resume templates. This section is most cases, will make an employer call out your bluff. Since most of the skill sections remain the same, they don't match with the skills that an employer looks for. They are either outdated or have nothing to do with the job listed. Be sure to do your research or look out for key skills mentioned in the job description, so you don't lose out on the job due to incorrect skills.
Reasonably Good Online Presence
We live in digital times, so it is only fair to have an identity on a digital platform. We aren’t talking about Facebook and Instagram only. If you are not fond of these social networks, the very basic you must have is a LinkedIn profile. A fully updated one with information about your experience, previous workplaces, and interests. Just ask one of the largest top rated resume writing services in the United States, www.DoMyResume.NET.
This allows employers to have live access to your post and day-to-day profile activity. It also shows employers that you are flexible and confident enough to display your profile on online platforms. Make sure you mention your handle in the contact section of your resume so employers can easily access your profile.
Career Over The Years
Employers look for candidates who have had visible growth in their careers. In most resumes, information about workplaces is mentioned, but most of them seem to have the same roles and responsibilities written. Ensuring that with every passing year, you mention more responsibilities and duties will show employers your professional growth. With every new company, there must be mentions of new projects or more tasks that you have undertaken.
Seeing this will give employers the confidence to want to choose your profile due to your steady growth.
Updated Formats
Keeping up to resume format trends is very important. Editing the very same profile just to add some extra information is not sufficient. The resume's format is the most obvious feature. If it is old or not very visually stimulating, you have automatically lost out on yet another opportunity. You need to give your employer a good reason to want to choose your resume out of all others.
By keeping an old resume running, an employer may feel like you are not open to new things or that you might not be a very flexible person. The number one choice of every employer is to have someone who keeps up with current times.
Submit A Resume, Not An Essay
Your resume needs to be detailed, crisp, and precise. If you go completely into detail in your resume and talk about things that are not relevant to the job, you won't have much to go over during an interview. However, by having a long essay, you automatically go into an employer's dislike list, and that's even more concerning.
Quite frankly, no one has the time to go through such long resumes unless they are relevant. Be sure to mention important duties, growth, and experience, but do not go into irrelevant details. Employers look for resumes that are easy on the eyes and quick to grasp.
Font, Spacing, And Neatness
Another factor that employers look for in a resume is neatness. Even if your resume is crisp and to the point, you will lose out on brownie points if it is messy. If your font sizes keep changing and your spacing is different from paragraph to paragraph, you will have an all-over-the-place resume that will be very off-putting for an employer.
Not just that, you might come across and a disorganized and undisciplined person due to a messy resume. So ensure that you double-check how your resume looks and share it with your friends to get a third perspective.
If you make your resume while keeping in mind these factors, you will surely impress an employer enough to get a shot at an interview. You will also visible notice lesser rejections. It could be quite tedious to keep customizing your resumes based on a job listing. You can seek assistance through professional resume writing services for this too. However, spending time on modifying ten to fifteen resumes equals not having to send your resume to hundreds of places. Good luck!
If you need resume help, DoMyResume.NET is available. We have been writing resumes for 35 years, and we understand what hiring managers are looking for and how to tell a story that conveys everything you bring to the table. Contact us for more information about our resume review, resume writing, career coaching and other career services.
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