7 Quick Fixes for a Better Resume [Infographic]

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Most of us have busy lives: Go to work, pick up the kids, make some dinner, think about working out, go to sleep. Wash, rinse, repeat.

That’s why we love quick fixes, those little life hacks that make routine things much easier and faster so we can get to the fun, important stuff.

Now think about this: You will spend around 10 years of your life just being busy at work. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a quick fix for getting the right job? Well, there is. Actually, there are a few of them.

Here are seven quick fixes that will show you how to make a resume that lands you a job you love – followed by an infographic with even more advice.

1. Make Life Easy for the Hiring Manager With a Readable Resume

If you want to make things really easy, the quickest fix is to use a resume template. Imagine never having to perfect your margins in Word again!

Using a template automatically gives your resume a clean, organized look, making it easy on the hiring manager’s eyes. And we are all about easy right now.

Just remember to keep everything left-justified and make strategic use of italics, bold, capitals, and bullet points.

2. Make the Most Important Information Easy to Find

On average, hiring managers can receive up to 250 resumes in response to one job offer. So, they’ve come up with their own quick fix: They only spend an average of six seconds scanning each resume for specific information.

You have to make sure that the information they’re looking for goes right at the top of your resume so that they see it in those precious few seconds they spend with your resume.

3. Using Keywords in Your Resume is Vital

So, what “specific information” is a hiring manager scanning for anyway?

In the job description, hiring managers make a list of all the skills and experience they want their ideal candidate to have. When they scan your resume, they are looking for keywords and skills that reflect the job description.

If you add the skills from the job description to your resume (and you should add some verbatim), the hiring manager will see that you have what they want. It’s as simple as that.

4. Start Your Resume With a Bang – Write a Resume Summary

Adding a resume summary to the beginning of your resume is a great way to get the important information to the top. It’s also a perfect place to add keywords.

A resume summary is a short, snappy introduction to who you are and what you can do for a company. Keep it at about three lines.

5. Catch the Hiring Manager’s Eye With Facts and Figures

A hiring manager won’t have a hard time finding the keywords featured in your resume summary, but you still have to draw their attention to the less obvious stuff further down the page.

How do you draw the attention of the recruiter or hiring manager? Use numbers wherever possible. For example: Increased sales by 15 percent.

The number will catch the reader’s eye and give them a sense of what value you would bring to the company in concrete terms.

If you can’t use numbers, it is still a good idea to add tangible facts. Otherwise, your resume is a list of skills with little proof to back it all up.

6. Double-Check Your Information Online and Off Before Sending Your Application

Before sending your resume, make sure your documents are consistent. Pay particular attention to dates and contact information. You don’t want to end up with two different phone numbers on your resume and cover letter.

Also, make sure you’ve updated your LinkedIn profile to match your resume.

It’s also a good idea to take a moment to clean up your online presence. Type your name into a search engine to see what comes up and which of your social media profiles are public. It may surprise you to find unprofessional information floating around on the Internet.

View your Facebook profile in “public” mode to see which of your posts can be read by anyone, regardless of whether or not they are “friends” with you.

7. Outsource Your Proofreading to the Bots

Typos kill even the most well-written resumes. At the same time, proofreading is hard to do on your own. The best solution is to outsource it.

Use a proofreading app like Grammarly, and then grab a human person to proofread your resume so that you can also get an opinion on how you sound.

Key Takeaway

There are too many important things to do in life to waste your time working at a job you hate – or anguishing over your resume in order to get a job you love. Use these quick fixes and you won’t have to waste another minute doing either.

resume 101

By Natalie Severt