Resume is the most important document for a working professional. It is very crucial in shaping the career graph of an individual. Since the person is not physically present when the first screening is done by the human resource management, the resume needs to do the talking. Hence the document needs to be crystal clear in presenting your professional achievements and life so far. Revamping the resume once a year and especially in time like these is extremely important.
The year 2020 has been life altering for millions of people across the globe both professionally and personally. The pandemic has sucked in lots of jobs and made many unemployed. Consequently people who apply for jobs have also increased in number. This reflects as a burden on the human resource team of ever company to go through tons of resumes on a daily basis. Hence an individual who is planning to apply for new jobs should come up with the best of the resume to stand out in the lot.
7 Tips to Revamp your Resume in 2020
Since the human resource team will not have all the time in the world to go through the entire text of the resume one needs to be extremely careful in presenting the important aspects in a way that catches the attention of the recruitment team of the company. Some tips to make your resume stand out are:-
Text format of the resume
The font size and style of the text is extremely crucial in a resume. The name of the individual and the job title should be in bold. The font size of the name should be slightly larger than the job title. The job title should be generic even if your previous employer has given you a less popular title.
Work Experience
Irrespective of the job title one is applying for it is always advised to mention the most relevant information of the job experience in the resume. Mention the skills that you possess that makes you a perfect fit for the job you applying for.
Quantify your professional achievements
Resume should also have a mention about any specific achievements. It is a great idea to quantify the accomplishments using some data. For example it can be in the form of percentage increase in sales if the job you’re applying for is something like a marketing manager, Increase in the viewership of content if the job is related to content management etc.
Academic certifications
In many job opportunities a credible academic base or a certification makes a huge difference. Hence mentioning them clearly along with the standard of performance may give you a better edge over other applicants. Since learning a skill and then applying for a job is widely preferred in the recruitment circles it gives a great advantage over the others.
Less is more
With all the information one is pumping into this document it can become a textual clutter easily. This can be avoided by cutting down on all the unwanted description. Hence less is more should be the key while updating the resume. Instead of describing your work experience with adjectives it is important to mention data. It is quite pleasing to the eye. Avoiding all the academic history and mentioning only the relevant academic information like graduation and other certification courses is advisable.
Top Heading of the Resume
This the first part of the resume that draws attention of the person concerned. It is extremely crucial. It has to contain your name, job title, contact information at one corner, educational background. Unnecessary information and personal information can be avoided completely.
Format of the Resume
After mentioning all the professional information the format in which it is presented is of utmost prominence. The format needs to be clear, neatly spaced out to draw the attention. Some important points that need attention are:
- Spellings and grammar
- Easy to read font size
- Spacing issues
- Tabular content
The Bottom Line
During these times of pandemic where work is literally vanishing, one needs to be at the top of their game to hold onto their work. This requires a good and commendable document that has complete information of your professional career i.e. a resume. The recruitment team of any company will be looking for an individual who can perform varied tasks to cut down on the number of employees they can recruit. Hence mentioning all the varied skills and tasks you have and perform can give you a better edge over the other applicants. This makes updating an outdated resume extremely crucial.
Apart from all this quantifiable data and information you have mentioned n the resume about your professional and academic life something one needs to wear on his or her sleeves a whole lot of confidence, because Confidence Sells.
