What Should My Resume Look Like to Compete in Today's Job Market?

Thanks for the comments. @Lydia so true. Most companies don't want more than one page resume and a cover letter. They seem to only concentrate on the past ten years. In reality, most technology that is older than 10 years is probably obsolete so why bother including it on your resume? @Catherine this is a judgment call. Sure you can focus on accomplishments in school if they are applicable to the position you are seeking. The best advice I can offer is to spend some time in the career services office at your college. They have a wealth of information and people to help guide you with your resume as well as to be able to do mock interviews with you. @William I could not have said it better. Thank you.

I can't stress enough how much employers love concrete numbers. Simply saying "I led a team of 10 people for three years" isn't enough. You have to say what you did to improve your company during that time. I made the mistake of using vague verbiage on a resume and it cost me a chance at a decent job. Always have concrete examples and plenty of numbers to back up your qualifications.

What suggestions do you guys have for recent graduates and formatting a resume? Should you focus on specific accomplishments in school? Should you include courses that you completed that are relevant to the job? I've found that creating a resume right out of a school can be really intimidating because of lack of experience.

@Kellen, Multiple page resumes don't necessarily mean the document is padded with filler. Some people have a lot of relevant experience, or they've been on the workforce for a long time. If you start a career between the ages of 18-24 and work for 20 years, you're still under 45 - i.e. not exactly retirement age. This however, could have you tagged as too old, or overqualified by a computer. I think the appropriate resume length varies by industry and a little research can turn up the appropriate length.

I couldn't agree more with the "change your resume to complement the potential job" suggestion. You're much more likely to get an interview if you appear to be exactly what the hiring company is looking for. In a sea of resumes, it's so important to take a couple of minutes to ensure yours stands out.

@Erica don't get bogged down in how many times you should use a keyword as that takes away from your resume and cover letter. Stuffing it with the applicable keywords will not help you to get in the door because the ATS is smarter than that and will throw your resume out if it has too many keywords. As long as you are responding to the posting and indicating your qualifications by using some well placed keywords, you will be fine. @Jacob some companies love infographics, others not so much. It is industry specific. For most of us, just a standard resume will do just fine. If you are applying for a creative type position, an infographic just might bring you over the top to get that coveted interview. Other than that, stick with the standard.

Is there a rule of thumb on when to use infographics? It really seems like that would be such an industry specific application that it is flawed advice for most resumes. Charts and graphs for sales or clerical roles seem like they would detract from the key points that are true drivers of value for a potential candidate.

After reviewing a job description, let's say you found four keywords (these words/phrases were repeated twice or more throughout the description). How many of these keywords should you include in your resume? And how many times should these keywords be repeated?

Thanks for the comments. @Kellen some folks do need more than one page but they would be the exception, not the rule. Unless the person is an executive or something like that, one page will suffice. You should try to whittle it down to just the past 10 years if possible. @Sylvia the issue with photos is a personal one. Even just several years ago, posting a photo on your resume or cover letter would have been a big no-no but not so much today. With everyone on social media with their photo plastered on all of their social media sites, it seems odd to come across a job seeker account that does not have a photo. Times have changed with that. Of course some hiring managers could still reject it due to the photo. But, most companies do at least a cursory look at social media for a candidate before they bring them in for an interview so they would already know what the person looks like.

Although most of the advice in this article is sound, I have to strongly disagree with the suggestion to including a photograph of yourself. As a former hiring manager, any resumes or cover letters that came through with a photo were immediately turned away. It strikes of unprofessionalism and sends the wrong message. Why should someone want to see an applicant's photo prior to an interview? Of course, there are rare jobs that contradict this (modeling, acting), but for the most positions should not include a picture.

Should a resume ever be longer than one page? Even someone with decades of experience should be able to whittle their career highlights down to one single page. I have never seen an impressive resume that went over one page. Multiple page resumes send up a "red flag" for me that the candidate is padding their resume with filler.

Thanks for your comments. One of the hardest things we have to do when it comes to job searching is to brag about ourselves. But, the bottom line is, if you really want the job - you are going to have to brag - to stand out from the crowd.

Glad to hear the "objective" is on its way out: that never really made sense to me. If you say anything other than "to get a job that is ..." and then describe the exact job you're applying for, they probably won't interview you. You can't say "To kill time while I look for the job I really want." So it's really just a place to state the obvious, and that space could be better used in other ways.

I really like the section of the article that talks about focusing on results. It is important to remember that a hiring manager is going to see many of the same things repeatedly on resumes, and it's important to sell yourself to get ahead of the other candidates. It isn't enough to say that you held a certain position or performed a certain task. You have to expand on that, to show that you were actually successful in what you did.

Thanks for your comments. @Shaday a photo is a judgment call. Personally I don't have my photo on my resume since I know that they can find photos of me on social media. @Shannon the objective statement has pretty much breathed its last. Employers don't care about that. They already figure that you are seeking as position as XYZ since you sent your resume to them. They already know that you are looking for a position wherein you can use your considerable talents and skills to benefit the company. You could use your objective statement in your cover letter if you feel a strong need to include it somewhere for the employer to view. Times have really changed when it comes to resumes and cover letters. Short, sweet and to the point. A few years ago companies were challenging job seekers to apply for the position in 140 characters or less. Now that was a challenge. Companies have to weed through thousands of resumes just for one position. Just keep in mind to include the proper keywords so that your resume gets in front of the employer and keep all of your correspondence short and to the point. Best of luck.

I agree that using keywords is a strong strategy to capture attention of hiring managers. My biggest concern is the push to ditch the objective statement and replace it with a career summary. Your resume itself, if well-written, should already provide an overview of your career. Employers often look for an objective statement so they are aware of the applicant's career goals. A career summary seems to be repetitive.

The formatting tips here make sense, but is it really wise to include a photo of yourself? It used to be that companies and applicants were both turned off by the potential for bias or discrimination claims. Nowadays, many employers will check you out online, so they can easily find a photo in your profile. From a formatting perspective, it seems like an unnecessary waste of space on a document with limited real estate, especially for people with longer work histories.