Follow These Two Steps to Improve Your Resume

Perform a Google search on "how to write a resume," and the search engine returns more than 136 million pages. How do you know which tools to use among this glut of information? As you go through a job search, you don't have time to sift through all the ways to organize, compose and master resume writing.

Remember that hiring and resumes have changed with technology. Landing a job isn't the same now as it was when your parents first started working. Most companies go completely online for applications, cover letters and resumes. You can even create your own personal brand to broadcast your professional qualities. To help you wade through the millions of ways to write a resume, Hire Expectations Institute offers a take on the two basic steps you need to follow.

1. Action with a Result

Instead of merely listing your past employers, an action coupled with a result within a complete sentence or two does more to illustrate each one of your work experiences. When you provide potential employers with a resume, they want to see what you did at a past job and how you performed. For example, you could say, "Conducted research for Fortune 500 companies to evaluate market penetration potential among 250 cities in the United States." This concise sentence relates exactly what you did and the result you achieved. Your job duty was to "conduct research" and the end result was "to evaluate market penetration potential."

One key fact to remember is recruiters and HR managers spend mere seconds surveying your resume, so make it stand out with relevant, focused statements. As you write a resume, include action verbs to highlight your accomplishments, achievements and results. A variety of action verbs makes it easier to understand as recruiters read your resume. Keywords capture the attention of applicant tracking software, but action verbs grab the eyes of HR managers.

2. Quantify Accomplishments

Quantify your experiences at past jobs to solidify your job duties. This means you write a resume to relay metrics to your prospective employer. For instance, you may state, "Called 30 potential customers daily as part of a focused sales team to increase sales 15 percent quarter-over-quarter for three straight years."

Notice the exact figures in that statement that quantify your past work. How many people did you call per day? You called 30. How did these calls relate to your job performance? You helped your company increase sales 15 percent in successive quarters for three straight years. These numbers let your future employer know exactly how you roll.

One final thing to keep in mind is that fixing these two aspects of your resume doesn't guarantee success in your job search. However, relaying relevant information in actionable, concrete ways forms a solid foundation when you start to write a resume.

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