Ideally, resumes should make your name stand out in a positive light, not stand out like a sore thumb. And depending on how you apply, your resume might not get you past the first phase of screening.
It’s just as important to remember the resume “dos” as the resume “don’ts.” There’s a lot to keep in mind when crafting an effective resume, especially for someone updating their resume for the first time in a long time.
With a few pointers, you can give yourself the best chance to be seen by an employer.
While some job seekers might tempt themselves by making their resume stick out, Jonathan Duncan with Agilec in Barrie suggests candidates go with a minimalistic resume approach. Adding frills, colours or wacky fonts could be a detriment to making a good first impression.
“The plain and simpler, the better; but that may depend on where you’re going to apply for,” Duncan said. “If you’re going to apply for some sort of funky company, if you do jazz it up, it would probably work for that market.”
There are some cases where using an alternative font or adding a splash of colour to your resume is encouraged, but employers are predominantly interested in your experience and qualifications. As bare-bones as it might look, using a default font like Times New Roman isn’t as frowned upon as you might think.
Especially in this era when companies are using automated systems to filter through resumes, any sort of special formatting or typeset usually gets removed, anyway.
Those automated systems are looking for keywords and phrases in resumes, and checking those boxes off is crucial to making it through to the person who’s doing the actual hiring. When in doubt, stick with the tried-and-true resume format to give yourself the best shot at success.
“Let’s say they get 100 resumes for a position,” Duncan said. “They may decide to use a machine to reduce it down to 20, even 10. You may have the best qualifications, you may be the best person for the job, but if your font’s a little bit different, you may never get through that screening.”
Duncan also suggests uploading resumes on Word Document format rather than PDF (unless specified otherwise), avoiding pictures, and keeping the content as relevant as possible. The keywords in the job description should match the highlights of your resume.
Resume templates are everywhere, and plenty of job seekers go to sites like Indeed for resume formatting ideas. The issue is everyone else is probably using an Indeed resume template as well, so differentiate yourself by building out your own personal resume format.
“Sometimes when we’re hiring here, the people we’ve received Indeed resumes from have used the most general, bland, non-specific resume you’ll ever see,” Duncan said. “Don’t trust the Indeed resume; make sure you have your own resume to apply with.”
Make your best impression with a new employer by creating a winning resume that works for you.
An Agilec job coach and tailor a resume to your unique work experience and skills.
Get started today at Agilec.ca or call their office at 705-735-0182.