September is International Update Your Resume Month. What better way to celebrate than with five tips for updating your resume to make it stand out from the rest in the pile? Tips come from Ford Myers, a career coach, speaker and author of Get The Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring.
Be brief
Remember the phrase less is always more? It's true when it comes to writing up your resume. Especially use this thought when constructing the summary section of your resume (The main sections of a resume are career summary, professional experience and education.)
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The summary is a brief statement of who you are, where you're coming from, and what skills and expertise you have to contribute to an organization, Myers explains. "To grab the reader's attention, you'll need five or six targeted lines oriented toward the benefits and contributions you offer as a professional."
Be specific
Although individuals should be as specific as possible throughout the entire resume, this tip should be exercised most in the professional experience section.
The professional experience section is where your past jobs, roles, responsibilities and accomplishments are listed—and is also where most employers and recruiters focus 90 percent of their attention. "The information you present here, and how you present it, can decide the fate of your candidacy within about 10 seconds of scanning time," Myers say. "Resumes that get noticed focus on specific results. Whenever possible, quantify your results, including retention rates, sales, profit, performance and effectiveness by using percentages, dollars and hard numbers."
Be active
Use strong action words at the beginning of every sentence. Words such as direct, launch, initiate, devise and lead have a lot more impact than a passive phrase such as "was responsible for."
Be selective
Focus on information that is truly relevant to your career goal and edit out the rest. There's no need to focus on volunteer work or temporary positions if they are not relevant to the career you're looking for, or if they're in your distant past," Myers says.
Be honest
This one's simple: Don't lie on your resume. "If you lie you will always lose in the long run," Myers warns.
"If you find that your resume isn't getting the results you want, change it. Your resume is a living document that will be edited and updated through the course of your job search and your entire career."
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