Roughly 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in January, extending the Great Resignation into 2022. That marked the eighth straight month that quits exceeded 4 million and hovered near record highs. With demand at an all-time high, millions of people are applying for new positions, which means the candidate pool for employers is oversaturated.
The best way to stand out from the crowd of applicants and make it to the first-round interview is with a resume that is thorough and relevant to the position and company you are applying for. Because resumes are the best way for employers to quickly scope out potential prospects you’ll want to consider specific guidelines when crafting yours to ensure that you can get your foot in the door.
READ ALSO: Scottsdale ranks No. 1 among most recovered cities from pandemic
Here are some resume tips, tricks, tweaks and things to remember:
• Keep it neat: An employer should be able to scan your resume in 20 seconds, that’s how quickly they’ll throw it out.
• Is your schedule flexible? We’ve entered a new era of remote and hybrid work, so let the employer know whether or not you’re flexible right off the top.
• Make your resume ATS-friendly: ATS stands for ‘applicant tracking system’ and you can keep yours simple by not using fancy downloaded fonts or special characters.
• Up for relocating? If you’re looking to relocate to a place and don’t need to be compensated for your move (since you’re already moving to that city) put it on your resume. Most employers will throw out a resume from someone out of state because they’d rather opt for someone who is already a resident to avoid moving costs.
• Provide your social media handles: Be upfront and link to your social profiles so the potential employer doesn’t have to hunt you down. In most cases, they will seek you out online during the vetting process. Make it easy for them.
• Bilingual? If you speak other languages, that’s huge! Put that at the top of your resume.
• Make your employee objective meaningful: Don’t say “I want to be an administrator.” Say “I want to be invested in this company for the next 10 years as I position myself to be promoted from within.”
• Don’t give job descriptions for your job history: Find a way to show that you were given more responsibilities at the places you have worked. Also, if possible, quantify with numbers anything that you were able to produce at the places you’ve worked.
• Proof it: Send your resume to someone who can proofread it to ensure it doesn’t get wonky after you hit send. This happens and if the employer receives it looking all distorted, you’re out.
• Keep it short: Unless you’re a business executive, keep your resume to one page or less.
• Don’t show every job if you have short ones: If you worked somewhere for only a few months and you have more than a few years of job history, leave it off the resume as it will be a strike against you no matter how well intentioned it was.
Unfortunately, there’s no way around it, if you’re serious about a position your resume is going to require effort and thoughtful consideration. A resume is your best bet to leave a favorable impression on the hiring team and get invited to an interview. In following the guidelines mentioned above, you will be one step closer to attaining the job you desire.
Zanzibar Vermiglio is the founder of Zanzibar Enterprises and an executive business coach who has helped double the size of more than 100 companies across the nation and works with more than 20 business leaders in the Scottsdale area. The three aspects of business he focuses on are value proposition design and execution, operation scalability (including management architectures), and sales planning.
