Career Advice for Job Seekers

Resume Makeover – Tips to Make Your Resume a Spicy Treat to Entice the Recruiters

William Frierson AvatarWilliam Frierson
April 2, 2014


Close up of person looking at a resume

Close up of person looking at a resume. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

You want to be the siren of the job market, yet you can’t even secure a single interview. Have you ever wondered why such a cruel thing only happens to you when others are getting 2 to 3 interview calls in a week? It is undoubtedly because your resume isn’t just as chic as you wanted it to be.

Regardless of how perfect you think you are for the job you, chances are that your tedious resume would get in the way, closing all the doors that lead to a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. Therefore, you seriously need to consider giving your resume a makeover and turn it into the “Mjölnir” to beat all the competitors out there battling for the throne.

Resume Makeover Tips

Pay close attention to the following tips and learn how you can purge the lackluster elements out of your resume and add some extra spice to it.

Remove the Same Ol’ Objective

“Objective- To contribute to your company in a way that will enhance…blah!blah!blah!”. Seriously! No wonder why you haven’t been called for an interview yet. People, you need to wake up and trash these sorts of elements right now. Thousands of applicants use the same generic objective and that’s the very reason they fail to prove what they can offer to the company that others can’t.

Remember that the main reason of an objective is to demonstrate what makes you different. In short, here you are expected to show some uniqueness in your approach or persuasion. So, unless you take a creative turn to that approach, you’ll probably end up in the same room as all the other rejected candidates.

Slash all the Clichés

When we don’t take a resume seriously, trite phrases tend to crawl their way into it thus draining out its efficacy and rendering it useless. Remember that the use of clichés would only demonstrate the height of your “un-creativity”. Needless to say, it shows that you are incapable of offering new ideas or thoughts. Therefore, strike all the trite phrases in your resume like team player, result-oriented, proven-track record, etc.

Instead, try to come up with more effective ways to demonstrate those skills. For instance, instead of saying you have good communication skills, tell them about the time when an important meeting with the delegation went south due to confusion and how you handled it efficiently with your outstanding communication.

Trash the Worn-out Format

Gone are the days when resumes were limited to standard, paper formats. Now, we are living in the digital age where everything has been digitized and the resume is no exception to that. These days, smart candidates are bringing in creatively-formatted resumes that aren’t only pleasing to the eye but are also engaging. Therefore, if you don’t want to be left out behind the times, you need to show yourself as a deserving candidate who walks hand-in-hand with the fast-paced world.

There are different ways you can opt for a creative resume like info-graphics, video resumes or a nicely-designed resume. However, choose the one that best fits you and your niche. For instance, if you are a graphics designer, then you’d be better off with infographics.

Make Some Space for Achievements

Yes, you always tell them that you are a terrific team player and a detail-oriented person. However, you never tell them what you have achieved so far with those skills. You always leave them wondering why the person has given a rundown of his skills when he hasn’t achieved or accomplished anything. Therefore, instead of jotting down and presenting a mundane job description, show them the achievements or the contributions you’ve made so far. Tell the recruiters how you’ve faced challenges, made critical decisions and obtain those results you’ve been bragging about.

A lover of nature by heart and a full-time digital geek by profession, Martin Berk currently serves at Courseworkspot.co.uk, a place for custom coursework help. He has an intense passion for creative writing and indulging in latest gadgets. When he’s not working, he spends his time reading tech magazines or watching Vin’s movies.

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