Tips to Make Your Resume Better Than The Rest

A better resume is vital so recruiters and HR managers don't delete your precious document mere seconds after giving it a quick look. Take some of these pointers to turn your blah resume into a power-packed piece that stands out from other applicants.

1. Make It Look Good

A better resume starts with a sleek design with lots of white space, even margins and a good-looking font. Try Calibri or Arial for a font that looks clean and crisp. A cluttered resume forces an HR manager to take too long to try to find information. The reader's eye should go to the most relevant information on the page first.

2. Match the Job Description

Customize your resume with keywords from the job posting. Although the meat of your resume, including as your accomplishments, skills and past experience, always remains the same, change a few words here and there to match major keywords in the job description. Before a set of human eyes sees your resume, a computer is likely to rank your resume based on an applicant tracking system. When you put some keywords from the job posting strategically into your application, the software is likely to pick up on them and push your better resume towards the front of the pack.

3. Get Rid of Errors

Grammar errors and misspellings may doom your chances of getting a job, even if your qualifications and skills are a perfect match. Some recruiters and HR managers use mistakes on a resume as a way to weed out candidates, so be very meticulous in terms of your resume's wording.

4. Include Power Words

A better resume gets rid of passive voice and inserts power words instead. Instead of "responsible for" or "had" try words such as "led," "inspired," "initiated," "planned" and "produced."

5. Add Accomplishments to Power Words

Start sentences with power words and then detail specific, concrete accomplishments. For instance, don't say "Responsible for manufacturing team that exceeded expectations." Instead, say "Oversaw five teams over 10 years that realized $75 million in new sales." Each accomplishment should be verifiable.

6. Drop in Strategically Placed Keywords

Just about every company uses applicant tracking systems, but fortunately, free resources are available on the Internet to help you gauge the strength of your resume versus the job description. This type of software even makes suggestions as to how to create a better resume. Play around with a few words, but make sure your skills and qualifications match those required for the position.

A better resume starts with you deciding how you want to present your personal brand to companies. Once you polish your resume and make it shine, let someone else look over it and give you notes. You could even consider taking it to an HR professional to see if your resume passes muster at that level.

Photo courtesy of eric hews at Flickr.com