4 Tweaks to Perfect Your Resume and Score an Interview

4 Tweaks to Perfect Your Resume and Score an Interview4 Tweaks to Perfect Your Resume and Score an InterviewEven if you are the most qualified person for a job on the planet, you wont get in the door for an interview unless you have a respectable resume. If youre applying to larger organizations, an applicant tracking ordnungsprinzip first filters your resume. Only if the system deems that you have the basic level of qualifications, will an employer get an eye on it. From there, if you want an employer to look at it for more than 10 to 20 seconds, you need to make a good impression.A tracking system typically assures an employer that you have the basic qualifications necessary to perform the job. So what potential employers will be looking for with the naked eye are notable pieces of your background and what the system doesnt catch, including how well youve presented yourself. Although this is not a box to tick off on a checklist, your overall presentation makes a significant and m ind-changing impression on an employer. And this can, and almost always will, trump your experience. If you havent presented the information well, it doesnt matter how qualified you are. If you cant present yourself properly for a job you are competing for, then what would your work product look like on the job? The employer wont want to take a chance on that.Heres what to look for in a resume that will impress the humans reading it.Clarity and consistency. These seem like simple concepts, but theyre missed astonishingly often. Every section of your resume and the way you set it up needs to be clear, so key information can be found easily. Look at your resume as if it were the first time you were seeing it. Can you quickly identify your organizations, job titles and time periods worked? Dont over-complicate the style by using a multitude of fonts, different bullet types and varied tabs and indentations. Each section should follow the last in terms of a general format and style. Cons istency is extremely important.Expand. If you think its enough to drop in the language of your formal job descriptions at work, its not. Once a person decides they like what they see overall and to read your resume in more detail, your bullets will make a big difference. Tell them exactly what you do in your bullets. If the results of what you do arent readily apparent, question what you do or did. In other words, what would you ask yourself in an interview to expand upon your resume? Who do you write reports for and what do they use the information for? What departments do you work with on a daily basis? Have you made recommendations that have been used by your company?Write well. Its a dead-end street if you are using clich phrases, making grammatical or spelling mistakes or writing poorly. Employers read a lot of resumes and they do not like reading the saatkorn words and phrases over and over again. Be unique by putting thought into your document. Paraphrase if youve done someth ing similar in a past position. Dont fall into the trap of looking the same as everyone else. Read over your work and have friends do so, too. Mistakes will mark the end of your application process.Length. Though its routinely discouraged, people still believe that a resume can be more than two pages if they have more information to add. Dont fall victim to this grave mistake. In general, your resume should not creep past one page if you have less than 10 years of experience. It should not go past two pages if you have 10 or more years. The typical exceptions to this rule are when you apply to federal government roles, or if you are a prof or medical doctor. In order to keep it to one or two pages, you must read through it critically. Are you repeating tasks across job descriptions where unnecessary? Are you using superfluous words? Is whats in there relevant to the jobs youre applying to, or is some of it unnecessary?Check your resume in different formats, such as PDF or other form ats. You may think its on two pages, but then when you send it to someone, its on to a third page. Try sending it to yourself and opening it to be sure.While these steps wont guarantee you an interview, they will get you much closer to one. When you dont follow these basic guidelines, you risk your application being disregarded completely, no matter who you know in the organization. Some extra care and attention can go a long way to helping you get in the door for an interview.