Your resume is one of the most important things in your job search toolbox. This article tells you how to get your resume noticed.
That’s why I put together this resume template for you to download for free, plus a cheat sheet telling you exactly how to fill it in. It’s a proven template that has helped many women to get your resume noticed so they can get the interview.
Here’s the scary thing about your resume. On average, a recruiter spends only 6 seconds looking at your resume. That’s all they take to decide whether to call you for an interview.
So with a mountain of resumes in front of the hiring manager, how can your resume stand out against all others?
Below are 10 key tips you can use. to get your resume noticed by hiring managers. Take these steps to make them call you in for an interview.
1. Believe it or not, Font matters
Chances are you’ve heard that Times New Roman is the best font to use on your resume.
It’s not – at least, not anymore. Today, it’s best to use a ‘sans-serif’ font (such as Calibri or Arial) for your resume.
Leave the ‘serif’ fonts like Times New Roman or Georgia behind.
Serif fonts have decorative ends on the tips of the typed letters, making them more challenging to read than their counterparts without those curly ends (sans-serif).
Sans-serif fonts cause less eyestrain and are easier to scan on laptops and mobile devices.
Also, sans-serif fonts are favored by electronic applicant tracking systems (ATS). The ATS is a tool often used by companies to capture your information electronically and to screen out unsuitable resumes.
ATS works best with simple fonts like Arial, Calibri, Verdana, etc., so choose one of those. If you use Word, you’ll see that the default font is now Arial (changed from Times New Roman).
In addition to font type, make sure to keep the font size between 10 to 12 points. Also, use bold and underline to highlight important aspects of your resume.
2. Include the words that matter (keywords)
So, remember those applicant tracking systems I just mentioned? Well, part of their job is to make sure that hiring managers don’t have to read a thousand resumes. Maybe just 500.
It’s easy to apply for jobs these days with just a click of a button. So companies can get absolutely flooded with unsuitable applicants.
The ATS matches your resume up against the job description and other criteria specified by the company to decide whether human eyes ever see your resume.
So it’s critical that you include the relevant keywords and phrases in your resume.
Read the job description carefully, highlight everything that stands out to you as a skill or experience critical to the function.
Use those words and phrases in your resume word-for-word, exactly as they appear in the job description. (But only if you have those skills and experiences.)
Does this mean that you’ll need to revise your resume for every single job application?
Maybe.
Say you’re targeting only senior marketing manager jobs in the toy industry. Then a lot of what you have in your resume will be applicable across the board.
But if, for example, one of the jobs you’re going after is at a company that has just gone through a merger. Then you can expect that the job description will include special requirements such as unifying messaging across legacy companies or something else more specialized.
If you have those relevant skills, you absolutely need to include them as well for that specific role.
It may also be that certain companies call the same thing by different names. For example, operations activities vs trade activities vs commercial operations.
Make sure that your resume is suing the exact language of the job description.
3. Speak accomplishments, not responsibilities
So here’s what I’ve often seen in resumes I’ve reviewed:
Drafted XYZ proposal.
Supported XYZ project.
Reviewed XYZ material.
Developed XYZ program.
Prepared XYZ presentation.
You get it.
What do all of these have in common?
They all speak to your work responsibilities, not your work accomplishments.
But if for example, you’re a mid-level corporate lawyer at a top-tier firm, then your responsibilities are likely the same as every other mid-level corporate lawyer at top-tier firms.
That doesn’t make you stand out.
What WILL make you stand out is explaining how you accomplished those responsibilities.
Think adverbs: quickly, effectively, confidently, substantially, logically.
Add these in when describing what you did.
And also really think about what you’ve done in your role that is different than what everyone expects the role to be.
For example, maybe all mid-level corporate attorneys handle deals up to $3 million dollars. But based on your skill and demonstrated ability you were entrusted to handle a $20 million deal. If so, say that!
By the way, ‘Entrusted to’ is another great phrase to include in your resume.
4. Company-focused Accomplishments
Your resume will be most effective if you highlight those accomplishments that have a long-lasting impact on your previous and current companies.
Therefore, quantify your contributions as much as possible.
Instead of saying “Optimized the chip design,” say “Optimized the chip design that helps the company save $800,000 over three years.”
See the difference? The second sentence is what companies care about. What you did to benefit other companies’ bottom line, that you’ll hopefully be able to do for them.
Duties are likely the same across all candidates going for the same role. But your specific company-focused achievements will be unique.
If your achievement impresses the employer, she will consider you a perfect choice for an interview.
5. Follow the rules…then break them
Wanna get your resume noticed by hiring managers? Consider sending it to them directly.
If the job application instructions say that you should apply through the company portal or through LinkedIn, then do that.
Following the rules is one of the things HR is looking for in an applicant.
But after you do that, do this:
Try to identify from the job description who you would actually be working for if you got the job, and reach out to her.
For example, say the job description says that in the role you would be reporting to the head of operations for the sales division. Try to figure out who that person would be on LinkedIn, and send her a note directly on LinkedIn or to her work email.
Here’s a template you may want to use for the note:
Hi [FIRST NAME],
I was thrilled to learn about the available [JOB TITLE] position on LinkedIn/company website. I’ve submitted my resume for the role through the [COMPANY] website, but wanted to also send my resume to you directly as well, as I think my experience is very aligned to the role. Once you’ve had a chance to review, I look forward to speaking with you about the role and my qualifications.
Best,
[YOUR NAME]
The goal is to make sure you get past that electronic system that may weed you out of the process before any person ever sees your resume.
Trust me, this step works.
I’ve had clients submit through the online portal and simultaneously email the hiring manger directly.
They got that dreaded automated rejection letter. But at the same time, the hiring manager was reaching out to say how impressed she is with the resume. They were invited to interview.
When that happens, the automated rejection is forgotten.
6. Add LinkedIn and Social Media Links
Include a link to you LinkedIn profile on you resume. This is non-negotiable.
Recruiters and hiring mangers regularly use LinkedIn to learn more about you than they can from just your resume.
And that’s actually great news for you, since you can create a profile that showcases all of your Rockstar-ness.
If you’re not that impressed with your LinkedIn profile right now – or if you’re not sure whether or not it will impress recruiters and hiring mangers – click to grab my free LinkedIn profile cheat sheet where I give 10 tips to optimize your profile for your job search.
Consider also adding links to your social media, but only if you’re maintaining them professionally. If you don’t think they’re ready to be reviewed by a recruiter, don’t include them.
But note that even if you don’t include them, the recruiter may do a search to find them anyway.
So at minimum, before you start your job search (or now, if you’ve already started your search) review your Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Make sure that there’s nothing inappropriate that a recruiter can find there.
7. Rely on your relationships
One of the absolute best ways to get your resume noticed is through your connections.
Surveys show that a person directly referred for a role is 200% more likely to be hired than other applicants.
That’s because when someone with a relationship to the company submits your resume, it’s basically them saying “I know Jess, she’s awesome.”
Do you have direct relationship with someone already employed by the company where you want an interview? If so, then, of course, ask her to submit your resume (after you’ve applied through the process noted in the job description).
But that’s not the only way someone in your network can help.
If you have a friend of friend at the company (or even a friend of a friend of a friend) you can ask them to help.
Use LinkedIn or a general call out to your network to see if you have any connection (no matter how remote) to the company that you can leverage for a direct link to the hiring manager.
You can also look into some commonalities you may have with the hiring manager.
For example if you went to the same college, you may be connected through your alumni association. Maybe you have relationships in common that way.
8. Link to a digital portfolio
Build an online portfolio and add a link to that portfolio in the header of your resume.
This is a higher-level tactic that most won’t do. But for some fields (especially more creative or visual fields like graphic design or architecture), this is an absolute must. Showcasing your talent this way is a fantastic way to get your resume noticed.
If you have a portfolio website, you can very effectively demonstrate your technical abilities, projects, and accomplishments. (As a side benefit, it can also increase your chance of being seen by other employers searching online for new talent.)
You can also create a site to showcase a case study, high-quality written work, sample complex budgets, etc.
Don’t include anything proprietary from your current or former companies. But do showcase some of your best work.
A simple portfolio site doesn’t need to be expensive. You can get web hosting for as little as $3 a month.
In some cases you can make your site ‘members only’ with a login and password. Then you can share the info on your resume but nowhere else. You may decide to do this if you don’t want your portfolio to be seen by the general public.
9. Include a Cover Letter
Sometimes job postings say that including a cover letter is optional. Even when ‘optional’, you should see it is a mandatory inclusion.
A cover letter is truly one of the best ways to highlight your qualifications for the job.
Surveys show that your resume has 40% higher chances of getting noticed if you include a cover letter.
When you’re putting your cover letter together, make sure you address the reader by his actual title. Don’t use phrases like “To whom it may concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam”.
Think about when you get mail that says ‘To Resident’. It pretty much goes straight into the trash, right? Because you know it really wasn’t meant for YOU.
Well, I’m not saying that HR will throw your resume in the trash if you send an impersonal cover letter.
But when they see ‘To whom it may concern’ they may get the feeling that this cover letter is a generic form letter you send to everyone, not a thoughtful explanation about why you really see yourself as the right fit for this specific job.
Oh, and by the way, in case that wasn’t clear: your cover letter should NOT be a generic form letter. It MUST be a thoughtful explanation about why you really see yourself as the right fit for this specific job.
10. Cut the Fluff
You don’t have much space on your resume to make your case for an interview.
Except in rare cases, your resume should be 1 or 2 pages long.
(remember what I said before about recruiters only reviewing your resume for 6 seconds?
So, use the space wisely. Don’t stuff your resume with your high school or part-time jobs, college projects, etc. Unless, of course, they are specifically relevant to the role you’re going after.
Also, unless the experience is directly applicable, don’t include job information from more than 20 years ago.
You want to make sure that the person looking at your resume uses those precious seconds to see the most important stuff.
Bottom Line
As the competition for job positions are increasing worldwide, the importance of a good resume has significantly increased.
For every job posting, recruiters could be receiving tens or hundreds of resumes, and they don’t have time to read all of them. Instead, they give almost 6 sec to each application to assess the applicant abilities for the job.
Making some (or all!) of the changes listed here will help you get your resume noticed so you can get an interview.
Your Next Step
Grab this FREE resume template (plus a cheat sheet telling you exactly how to fill it in). It’s a proven template that has helped many high-achieving corporate women like you to get your resume noticed so they can get the interview.
