Optimized Resumes will be a Girl’s New Best Friend in her Job Search

A lengthy and un-optimized resume could be harming your job search. Your resume could be overlooked or incorrectly perceived as irrelevant thereby resulting in you losing out on meaty roles. These tips will help you to craft a resume that will end up in the hiring manager's inbox instead of the trash.

At my day job, I interact with many clients who are seeking a change of role or trying to discover new career opportunities. They complain that they never seem to get past the initial screening stage despite having the necessary qualifications, skills and experience. A cursory glance at their resume reveals wherein the problem lies.  Does your resume check all the boxes?

• Don't underestimate the power of strong formatting

Most recruiters / companies use various software to go through the hundreds of CVs they receive. The software scans through the text in the resume and allows them to shortlist suitable profiles quickly. Therefore, the format may not be very important at this initial stage. However, if you are applying in a company where resumes are checked manually OR if you have progressed onto the interview stage, you need to ensure that the resume you submit looks appealing.

My top tip: Use bold and underline options for the headings (e.g. Educational Qualification, Work Experience, Names of Previous Companies) and list each of your achievements / roles and responsibilities under a job as a bullet point. Use different font sizes for headings and body.  This will make your resume easy to scan through for your recruiter / interviewer.

• Dynamic resumes work best

Don't send the same old resume for every job that you're interested in. Tweak your resume for every role that you apply for. Highlight and reorganize the skills and achievements that are most relevant to the job. For e.g. if you are a salesperson who wants to transition into a training role, highlight responsibilities where you conducted training for peers or your certifications in training & facilitation. However, if you wish to continue in a sales role, you can highlight your excellent target achievement track record instead.

My top tip: If you are open to a change in roles and applying for such opportunities, I would suggest you create a basic version for each role and then customize it accordingly for every role you apply for. For e.g. if you are a salesperson who is open to training roles, marketing roles, and sales roles, create 3 versions of your CV, each highlighting the different skill sets required. Tweak the appropriate version accordingly. It'll save time.

• Don't overshare

You may be a great candidate for the job, but recruiter bias could prevent you from being shortlisted on account of being considered too young or too old. Unless it's a job which has a minimum and/or maximum age limit, I don't think it's wise to put your age (or date of birth) on the resume. Instead, let your experience and skills speak for your ability. Same goes for GPA, year of graduation, marital status, etc.

My top tip: Instead of lying or making up details to come across as less/more experienced, remove unnecessary details from your resume. This will also save up space on your resume. However, this will not be applicable for jobs which require candidates to have a certain GPA, or specific number of years of experience. 

• JDs are very useful

Remember what I said earlier about customizing your resume for each job? This is where a JD or job description comes into the picture. Look out for specific keywords in the JD which you can incorporate into your resume. The JD is used by recruiters / software to check against your resume and determine the suitability of your candidature. The more the number of keywords in your resume that match with the JD, the higher the chances of you being shortlisted. Having said that, white fonting is probably not a good idea, unless you want to annoy the recruiter.

My top tip: In case you weren't provided with a JD or can't identify the keywords, search for profiles of people who are currently in the role that you are applying for. This can help you to find suitable keywords to incorporate into your resume. Likewise, informational interviews can prove to be beneficial as well. 

• It's best to not include references

We always think it's best to not include references. Most companies, if they require references at the initial stage, will ask you to include it . Otherwise, it's better to leave out the references from your resume. Include references from your workplace rather than your college/university. If you are a recent graduate, try to get a reference from the place where you worked part-time / as an intern.

My top tip: It goes without saying that you should inform these people before submitting their names as your references. Try to give them a sense of the job and the entailing roles / responsibilities so that they can tailor their answers accordingly when the organization calls them.

• Quantify your achievements

Nobody will value your achievements unless you can quantify it. Show how you contributed to the bottom line. Saying "Implemented a solution which reduced cycle-time by 15%" is more impressive than saying "Implemented solution to improve cycle-time". Likewise, "Managed team of XX people across XX geographies for ABC Project" is a better way to highlight your people management skills than writing "Was team lead for ABC project".

My top tip: I find the STARS technique as a useful checklist for both resume writing and answering questions during interviews. STARS stands for Situation, Task, Action, Results and Skills. 

Before I end, I would like to share some more things to keep in mind:

1. Use a professional email ID on your resume. (Using the one your current organization provided you with is not advisable)
2. Check for grammar and spelling errors before hitting send.
3. If discrepancies arise during a background check, you could not only lose your credibility and the opportunity, but could also lose your current job and might even get jailed.
4. Don't use fancy fonts.
5. Make sure the information you provide (email ID, phone number, and even certifications) are all correct and up-to-date.

Your resume is your first impression. Make sure it's a good and lasting one.