Proven Resume Tips and Tricks for 2022

(1) Add a Summary

Before you fill in your resume with facts and figures about yourself, put a summary at the top. Consider it an elevator pitch. Recruiters have a lot of resumes to sift through, and your summary could very well make or break your chances of getting the job. A good summary should include a quick overview of your professional work and what you’re passionate about, as well as recent accomplishments and the impact of your work. It’s a quick overview of not just your resume, but you. It should make a recruiter want to learn more about you. 

(2) Fill your resume 

After a summary, our top piece of job search advice is always the same, state your worth. We see so many candidates understating themselves on their resumes, thinking their work would speak for itself and companies would appreciate a humble applicant. Hear us out though- your resume is probably being screened by a computer at least once before it lands on a person's desk, and if it doesn’t have the required skills for a job, it just won’t make it through screening. It’s as simple as that. So what can you do? Claim every single skill, skill in development, accomplishment, award, technical skill, and soft skill you can. When filling your resume, focus on three things, numbers, results, and strong language. 

• Wherever you can add numbers into your resume, do it. Instead of saying you helped scale a business, say you scaled from $__ to $__. If you were part of a marketing team, indicate the marketing budget you were responsible for. If you were part of a tech team, talk about the value add the features you executed had. 

• Rather than focusing on what your responsibilities in a job were, focus on the results you had. It’s a subtle shift, but very impactful. For example, if your resume says that you were responsible for deepening relationships with current customers, write that you grew existing accounts from $__ to $__, or from __ projects to __ projects. Remember to include specifics in any way you can.

(3) Use strong language. Words like “lead”, “executed”, “managed”, “drove”, “experienced”, “passionate”, “dedicated”, convey confidence and strength. Another common mistake that can take away from the impact of your resume is too much focus on others. Keep the information in your resume about yourself, you don’t need to mention that you were part of a team, it’s implied you didn’t do everything yourself.

(4) Reword it for each job you apply to

Remember, a computer is looking at your resume first. Chances are, it is matching a job description to resumes and picking out only the resumes that fully or mostly match. Most of these systems cannot infer semantics. This means that a resume that states “managed various projects” might not match a job description that says “project manager experience”. It is worth it for each job you apply for to create a version of your resume using the verbiage of the job description you're applying for. Changing your resume to match the job description vernacular will help you increase your chances of making it through automated screening. 

(5) Use industry wide terminology

Companies often have their own way of saying things. No matter how big or well-known a company is, outsiders probably aren't familiar with it. It’s wasted real estate on your resume to include company specific language. If your company calls assistant managers “level 3 leaders”, write that you were assistant manager at your company. Even if it isn’t your exact job title, it will help interviewers and hiring managers understand your role better, and also help your resume make it through automated screening, which is more likely to understand industry-wide terminology.

(6) Engage on LinkedIn

The pandemic solidified LinkedIn’s role in the modern job search process. It’s not only a place to find jobs, but users can look up fellow alumni who work at companies they apply to, be found by recruiters, and engage in conversations. Here’s how to make the most of your LinkedIn and increase your chances of being found by a recruiter.

• Make sure your profile is updated regularly, has a nice, professional photo of you, and indicates that you’re looking for work (this is not visible to the public, only to recruiters).
• Write a killer headline- fill it with industry-specific keywords, a little personality, and a vision for your future. Example: “Global traveler and bilingual executive with a passion for scaling startups. Mission driven digital marketing and SEO expert. Amateur data scientist.” This headline helps a reader get a sense of this individual, what they do now, and where their interests lie.
• Make connections- your best chance of getting a job is always a personal connection. It doesn’t have to be a close one- if you see that a former classmate or fellow alum works at a company, reach out to them and see if they’ll talk for fifteen minutes. Ask them any questions you have about the company and let them know you’ve applied to a role there. A personal connection always goes a long way.
• Engage as much as you can- LinkedIn will promote the profiles of those who are most engaged with their platform. So post, like and comment, join groups, engage with others in your field, write articles, and stay relevant.

(7) Send a thank you note

The job search advice that never gets old- send a thoughtful note after an interview. Whether it was on zoom, in person, or over the phone, it is an absolute must. Thank the interviewer for their time, reiterate your interest in the position, and ask any follow up questions you might have. They probably talked to a lot of people, a nice note will help you stand out from the crowd, and make you seem more engaged. You would be shocked to find out how many people skip this step. We often see that a follow-up note is the difference between one candidate getting the job over another.