Job Search Not Going Well? Revisit Your Résumé.

If you haven’t gotten a single call from a prospective employer, it’s possible your résumé is rubbing hiring managers the wrong way. The current job market is incredibly tough to crack and employers today are more selective (some would say “more shallow”) than ever. With the odds already stacked against you, it makes little sense to put anything less than your best foot forward. If your résumé is flawed, the message sent is that you’re flawed and belong at the bottom of a waste-bin. 

Allison Green of US Newsrecently penned a brief guide to help you assess whether your résumé is holding you back. Remember: most hiring managers will spend ten seconds at most scanning your credentials, so make sure you’re using language that pops. Employ buzzwords to describe how your work led to positive results for your previous employers. Often, these are strong actionable verbs: launched, accomplished, eliminated, achieved, etc.

How’s your spelling? Is grammar an issue? It’s estimated that 58% of résumés have typos. If yours is one of them, you’re basically giving a hiring manager an excuse to toss you out. Google’s Laszlo Bock lists typos as one of the five most common résumé errors he encounters. As for tips, Bock recommends keeping things short and sweet, avoiding going overboard with formatting, and refraining from revealing confidential information about past employers. Most of all, don’t lie. Bock explains that lying is 1. unethical, 2. something that will catch up to you, and 3. a big no-no on a résumé that’s likely to be fact-checked before you’re hired.

Are there any additional résumé tips that you stand by? Let us know.

Read more at US News and World Report & LinkedIn

Photo credit: Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock