There’s a sea of online resume postings out there, and with the huge number of resumes submitted via e-mail or online forms that the employers have to scrutinize, they may all start to look the same. When you’re competing with hundreds of other equally qualified applicants, you have to establish yourself as the front-runner from the get-go! So how do you ensure that your online resume will stand out from the crowd and not get lost in the black hole that many of the resume databases have become? Read on; you just might find the answers in the following tips:
1) Make your resume keyword-rich:
Recruiters and company resume databases search for resumes using keywords. Think of it as similar to the way you’d search for a restaurant on Google; you enter your key criteria for a place to eat, right? If your resume doesn’t have those keywords embedded, it won’t be included in the results. It’s crucial to identify the right terminology in the industry you’re applying for. Take time to research the company, look at the job requirements, and highlight all the keywords and key phrases. Don’t get too crazy with the keywords, though. Just put enough to help employers find you faster. Remember this equation: Excellent Resume + Keywords = Job Opportunities.
2) Get your resume branded:
While employers care about your address, mobile number, and e-mail address, what’s more important to them is how you do things differently; what makes you unique, and what your bottom-line impact is in the organization. Ask yourself what you consistently do really well that is of value to the prospective employer. Once you identify it, turn it into a branding statement of three to four sentences, max.
3) Make it easy for employers:
Avoid the likelihood of conversion mistakes during upload and keep formatting as simple as possible; make it aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow. Use a different font – legible and not too fancy, but somewhat diverse from the usual Times New Roman or Arial fonts that everybody uses; this may just make a big enough difference to the eyes of the worn-out employer that has probably browsed through hundreds of resumes with the same fonts. Now there’s a good chance to give them – and yourself – a break!
4) Add a link:
Face it, social and professional networking sites are becoming hubs for job seekers and recruiters. Among the popular ones that most recruiters employ are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Add links to your profiles. Likewise, if you have a website, a blog, or if you are featured on somebody else’s website, add those links to your resume, too. Be sure that they contain information that will impress the reader.
5) Pitch a positive personality:
Just because you’re listing facts doesn’t mean you can’t make them sound pretty. Use positive language in all instances to give the employer an upbeat positive attitude when they’re done reading your resume. These ostensibly little differences in the choice of words can have a major impact on how your resume is perceived.
Make sure your online resume is dressed to impress and “speaks” loud and clear. Above all, don’t miss out on being found online! Use as many resources as you can to ensure that your resume stands out and gets noticed online.
