Whether you’re a recent high school graduate or a seasoned professional, it is critical to have an up-to-date resume that helps you stand out from the crowd when applying for a new job. To determine if you are a great fit for a position, recruiters will review your resume as a representation of how you present yourself. This makes it crucial to have an updated resume that accurately displays your career achievements while showcasing your personal and professional skills. However, if you’re starting from scratch or making updates to your current resume, it can be difficult to know where to begin. To help you get started, we asked our UWM recruiters to come up with three resume-building tips that you can implement for your next job application!
Tip #1: Customize your career objective
Your resume should include a career objective stating the professional goals you’re looking to achieve and why you’d be the right candidate for the position you’re applying for. This should be around 2-3 sentences or between 30-50 words and tailored to the job you’re targeting. You could even take it a step further and indicate the name of the company you are applying to.
Example: “An organized, hard-working and motivated individual seeking a position as an underwriter at United Wholesale Mortgage. Pursuing a role where I can utilize my strong communication and problem-solving skills to add value.”
Tip #2: Get personal
Not only should you display the details of your professional background, you should also be sure to highlight the personal skills that would help you succeed in the position you’re applying for. This gives the recruiter insight into your personal strengths and paint a picture of the type of individual you are. Listing past recognitions or awards are a great way to validate your capabilities.
Examples: time management, active listening, effective communication, teamwork, etc.
Tip #3: Keep it short and sweet
Try your best to keep the length of your resume to a single page. One way to prioritize what’s important is to only highlight your accomplishments and skills that are relevant to the role you’re applying for and removing filler words to help demonstrate your ability to effectively summarize. The easier you make it for the recruiter to read, the more likely you’ll make it to the next round.
Attention to detail is another important skill in any career you choose to pursue, so be sure your resume has no grammar or formatting errors before submitting it to be reviewed. Run spell check, consider using free online tools such as Grammarly and ask your friends and family for feedback.
Remember, your resume is the first impression a potential employer has of you. It lists your qualifications and establishes your “brand.” Above all, it should quickly communicate why you are the right person for the job.
Once you feel confident in using these tips for your resume, take a look at our recruiter’s advice on How to Ace Your Next Interview.