Here we are getting into the detail of the application procedure for your resume. A resume services would apply the following fundamental skills to attract attention. Your resume will ultimately do either of the following; sell you to the employer or turn them away so care needs to be taken to follow all steps.
Formatting
The resume should not be too fancy so take care not to have too many colors, pictures or different fonts. Stick to one well known font type such as Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana throughout the whole document.
Contact Details
1. Check that the basic contact details are correct.
2. Place them neatly in the header so it does not occupy any of the valuable reading space on your sheets. If they are impressed they will find your details in the header but the eye will go firstly to the centre of the sheet.
Titles
The resume should have titles bolded throughout (about 1-3 per page) don’t over use or the eye will filter them out and negate the impact.
Titles should be:
1.- Relevant (don’t add one just for nothing)
2.- Eye Catching
3.- Use a descriptive word for each task (power word)
4.- Capitalize the first letter of each word in the title
E.G. “Servicing Forklifts” can be changed to “Troubleshooting And Resolution Of Forklift Faults”
or
“bookeeping” can be changed to “Management Of Bookeeping Records”
See the difference? As with your cover letter ask a friend to glance over your resume in 5 seconds and tell you what skills you have. Remember, you only get a 5 sec glance and so you need to make it easy for them to spot your key skills.
The Content
The information you put into your resume needs to be informative enough to sell you but not full of irrelevant points that will cause a loss of interest. If you get past the 5 second screening, then you have about 30 seconds to sell yourself with the descriptions and skills you have written down.
Descriptions under Job Titles
1. Firstly, keep it brief and powerful
2. Use numbers to attract attention
3. Use words related to the position
E.G. – Kept records for accounts and paid invoices Could be changed to “Managed over 500 accounts receivable accounts working directly with the Financial Manager”
A review of the description of this one task reveals the following:
1. Here I used a number (to attract attention)
2. Used reinforcement that I can liaise and relate to managers
3. Used power words suited to the role in management (by using managed over …..)
As you can see the revised description displays as more qualified, able to relate with upper management and worthy of responsibility whereas the original description didn’t say a lot behind the words.
Another example:
Gave work assignments to staff of entry level accounting clerks Could be changed to “Directed workflow, supervised and trained accounting staff performing posting to general ledger, accounts receivable and payable accounts.”
Identify The Stand Out (Keywords) Used In the Job Description
Next have a thorough read of the job description and highlight with a pen any stand out words the were used to specify their requirements such as manage accounts, direct floor man etc and work those “power words” into your resume.
Anticipate Needs
Next identify and write down the full range of needs each employer faces and show how you can solve those needs to put you 1 step ahead of the other applications. This is powerful as most of the applicants won’t do this step.
For example the employer may not have specified that they will need an all-rounder willing to deal effectively with other departments and research accounting problems to resolve issues. By identifying a potential need and confirming your ability this will put you in an advanced position among other applicants.
Good luck with your resume. I suggest your try these tips and if you still are not getting many contacts for an interview, then try a resume writing service.