The advice rotating has reached levels of ridiculousness. Crazy hooks from people to get you to follow tips and tricks that honestly just don’t matter.
So here’s 5 from me, a person that has looked at more resumes in his life than anyone should…
5. Summary — Yes please. a short concise paragraph outlining what you’ve done. To the point, a highlight reel. Not the whole season
4. Hard skills listed somewhere. In tech I would like to see them directly after the summary. Other professions or exec the bottom is fine. It will help you in searches in ATS databases and on job boards. No soft skills here
3. If you say you know .net, kanban, agile, you should have it listed in skills but also show me in the experience. This is because when I submit to a hiring manager, if they see a skill they need, but it requires 5 years of that skill, they are going to look for it in the experience to make sure you have the minimum required length of time in that skill
2. The number of pages should be relative to your experience. If you’re 2 years into your employment adventure a page will probably do. If you’re a 30 year seasoned pro with a bunch of promotions and sweet experience, use the minimum amount of words necessary to highlight what you’ve done. I have never rejected someone because their resume is too long. It’s not true if someone says you were rejected for this reason and frankly sounds silly.
1. Use the most simple language you can. You don’t know who’s reading your resume and we don’t all have the same vocabulary.
BONUS
When we used to hand a piece of really nice paper we picked out from the stationary store on that thick stock and it had that hint of blue, it was important to stand out. you wanted that good good thicc paper so when they shuffled through resumes it felt different when the HM touched it. That ain’t this job market..
The absolute best way to stand out in this job market is to show how you hit the minimum required skillset and beyond in the simplest way possible so it is clear as day why someone should call you.
Show your personality on the phone screen and interviews. Or by networking on Linkedin. Your resume is not a talent show, it’s a key to open a door. Make sure the key fits the lock.
