5 Resume Tips to Impress Recruiters

critical thinking hard skills problem solving resume tips transferable skills Oct 15, 2020

An impressive resume tells a lot about you and gets your foot in the door.
Here are five tips to make sure your strongest characteristics shine through.

Tip #1

Customize your resume to the specific job you are applying to.
If you have been affected by COVID-19, you may be looking at other jobs either because you were laid off or just need to transition in your career. Make sure to update your resume to match with the specific role that you are applying to. This is also very important if you are branching out to a different career path than your previous or current job role.

Tip #2

Look at the keywords used in the job requirement and make sure to include them in your resume. This will help you stand out to the employers and the automated systems used to sort candidates. To find the keywords to use, look at the sections like requirements, job duties, ideal candidates and get the ones that are most important and apply to your skillset.

Tip #3

Transferrable Skills are good for jobs that the requirements are not as clear cut or not a great match for your background. The pandemic has changed the work environment so much and people have either lost their jobs or decided to shift to accommodate their work-life balance. Use your transferrable skills that were developed from your previous jobs. Transferable skills can not only land you a job, but they can make you stand out from the crowd.

Here are 3 transferrable skills to consider:

Problem Solving

As a problem solver, you are able to not only identify when there is a problem, but you are also able to provide a solution to that problem. This is a vital skill because employers value an employee who recognizes bottlenecks in a process or procedure. They even more so, respect and admire when the employee offers solutions to that problem.

Critical Thinking

This is very close to problem-solving. A critical thinker evaluates and interprets information before deciding the next course of action or coming to a conclusion. A critical thinker will not just form an opinion without evidence to back up their opinion.

Leadership

Leadership skill is more than just managing and supervising a group of people. It also involves having the ability to initiate and lead a project from start to finish. A good leader will also borrow from other transferable skills like communication, problem-solving, and teamwork.

Tip #4

Hard skills and soft skills are essential for those transitioning in their careers. Showcase them in your resume. You may need to look back at the past experience that you have had and you will be surprised that you already possess some of the qualities that you are looking for even if it is not a job you are not accustomed to. Take time to list them down first and then build your resume with those soft and hard skills in mind. We all have skills that employers want. They are usually looking for a candidate with a balance of both.

Hard Skills

Hard skills are technical knowledge or training gained through any life experience. These hard skills are acquired in your career or education. It is essential you write them down in your resume as they get detected by the applicant tracking systems that recruiters use to sort out candidates. For example, speaking a different language may be a hard skill.

Be sure to include some of these hard skills in your resume when updating it:

Computer technology since most companies now mandates you to apply for jobs via technology-based platforms. BusinessNewsDaily.com has a list of technical skills that even recent graduates and include boosting their resume.
Data analysis is the ability to examine data and then use that information to benefit the company. This is extremely useful to an employer and needs to be listed on your resume if you have this skillset.

Soft Skills

Soft skills are personal characteristics or traits that impact your ability to work and interact with others in the workplace. They are also known as social skills or people skills. They are abilities that can be applied to any job. Soft skills will distinguish you from the candidates who have the same hard skills. They can be the differentiator between you and another candidate. Examples of soft skills include communication, teamwork, and adaptability.

Make sure to put your skills section towards the top of your resume, so the hiring manager can quickly and easily find it. This little trick can be the reason whether your resume gets looked at or trashed.

Tip #5

Make your resume easy to read to make a strong clear first impression. This means you put the most important things you want the employer to look at the top, where it is easy to locate. Ask yourself, what are a couple of things that qualify me for this position? They put those in your summary.

If you need some help crafting out a custom resume that is tailored to you, watch this video where I talk about How You Can Make Your Resume Stand out to find your Dream Job