Top Ways to Make Your Resume Stand Out?

Nov 5, 2020

3 min read

In a competitive job market, it is imperative to do what you can to stand out and to appeal to your audience. From highly customized resumes and cover letters to personal branding to extravagant resume layouts - there's a ton of ways candidates are trying to set themselves apart from the crowd. Depending on the job or even the industry, this can have different reactions.

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out?

We've reached out to our recruitment team to ask for expert advice on what candidates can do to stand out in the current job market. Here's their advice.

A resume is the first step toward your future career, as it’s usually the first thing a hiring manager sees.

Customize Your Resume

As you draft your CV, make sure you're only adding information that could help you stand out against the competition. Ignore irrelevant information because our CV needs to be easy for the reader to scan and it should quickly get to the importance of your job history, skills, and accomplishments.

Carly D'Orazio, Client Manager, Top Quality Recruitment

Use Keywords

Get specific because recruiters will search using specific words. Keywords can be tricky because you have to choose words that are relevant to your field. Sprinkle keywords in your skills section, summary, and experience to attract the eyes of recruiters. For instance "sales manage", "SEO", etc.

Robert Bodanis, Client Manager, Top Quality Recruitment

Use Bullet Points

If your resume is in paragraph form, a hiring manager will bore, and he or she won’t invest the time to read your resume. Many hiring managers and recruiters do the same thing. Bullet points are an effective way of getting to the point and getting noticed. Make each bullet point relevant to the job you're targeting. For example

Achieved over 120% of sales quota in Fiscal Year 2016
25% territory growth in Q4 2016 for the Southern California branch

Your resume should be grammar free so check your cv with a grammar or punctuation checker. For instance grammarly.com ,grammarlookup.com, etc.

Nicole Zwolan - Client Manager, Top Quality Recruitment

Make your Resume Visually Appealing

A good resume can grab the attention of a hiring manager. Formatting your cv is an important step in creating a professional cv. Prioritize the content of your resume so that your most important and relevant experiences are listed first. Choose font size, font style, and resume template wisely so that you can make your resume visually appealing. Your resume should be effective, clear, and concise. For example Font Size-12, Font style- Times New Roman, etc.There are so many online resume builder websites. For Example zety.com/blog/resume-website

Angela Greig - Client Manager, Top Quality Recruitment

Prioritize the Most Relevant Experience First

Include your most valuable contributions to the organization. Each previous professional experience you describe should contain the official job title, the time period, the name, and the city name of the company in which you worked there. Prioritize the information of your cv so that your most important and relevant experience, skills listed first. For instance: Sales Manager (Abc pvt.ltd-Los Angeles,ca 2006-2009).

Samantha Jakel - Client Manager, Top Quality Recruitment

Always Submit a Cover Letter

When you submit your resume, recruiters might ask for cover letters as well. Submitting a cover letter is the best way to stand out as a candidate. It shows a clear link between your skills, knowledge, experience and abilities, and the needs of the employer.

Eric Ennis - Client Manager, Top Quality Recruitment

Key Takeaways :

Customize your Resume: Make it obvious what value you bring to the table.
Searchable Keywords: Make sure to mimic words used in the job description and highlight all important qualifications in your resume. Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume's Effectiveness.
Focus on Problem Solving: Hiring managers want to know why you were a stellar employee, not what you did at work.
Grammar and Spelling: Proofread your resume. Having spelling mistakes can be an immediate deal breaker for some employers.
Keep it Organized and Visually Appealing: Keep your qualifications and certifications together, use point form where possible, make it easy to read through.