Looking for a job is rarely easy and entertaining. To find something worthwhile, one needs much time and effort as well as a little luck. Especially given that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the labor market dramatically. With more competition and fewer vacancies, your resume must make the right impression on your potential employers.

When hunting for a job, you should pay attention to some important moments. First, it’s necessary that your CV shows that your qualification is suitable for the job opening that you want to apply for. Second, you need to convince the recruiter that you fit the company both as a professional and as a person. But before you download your brand new resume in MS Word and PDF, you’ll need to know the ins and outs of how to create the best resume possible.

In this article, you’ll find out how to craft a winning resume that will meet a recruiter’s expectations and help you land an interview. Importantly, you don’t need to start from scratch with a new CV. It will do if you check your current one and make sure it’s free from some of the common resume mistakes listed below.

No Executive Summary

The executive summary is probably the most important thing on your resume. Any career advice expert will tell you that. If you don’t have one yet, you should write it as soon as possible. Otherwise, you risk that all the other job seekers out there who have the executive summary and compete for the same vacancies will impress recruiters more than you.

An executive summary is a short text at the top of a CV that summarizes one’s work experience, main accomplishments, and key skills. Its main function is to help a hiring manager quickly assess whether you’re a good fit for a company or not.

You can either decide yourself in which form to present this information or read some articles on how to write a summary for resume that will work to your advantage. Either way, you should have it on your resume so that it doesn’t sell you short. When finished, ask a friend to scan your executive summary and give their feedback.

No Numbers

To rank high in a job competition, you should quantify your resume. That is, try to present and describe your accomplishments, not in words, but numbers no matter if you’re a junior or a professional web developer. Quantifying your CV will speed up your job search and help you get more interviews. That’s because managers will have an idea of your achievements and potential.

Why is it important? First, this way you’re showing that you can deliver real results. You can state that you’re good at something. Yet, the numbers show how good you are and prove that you can yield significant results.

So if you haven’t included any numbers in your resume yet, do that. For example, show how many clients you have got onboard or how many complaints you have resolved. It depends on the kind of work you’ve been doing, but still, you can find a way to quantify it. Any company would be happy to hire an employee who can quantify their achievements.

Passive Voice Statements and Clichés

As an aspiring applicant, you should convey a sense that you’re a proactive person even with your words. That is, you should be the main actor in your resume, the one who has done and achieved everything that is written there. For this, you should write all sentences in active voice, using action verbs and keywords.

If you use passive voice statements, your resume will automatically come across as vague and perhaps even weak. People that work for different recruiting firms find such CVs confusing and hard to read.

Also, avoid describing yourself as a responsible and detail-oriented team player who is also results-driven and self-motivated. These сlichés won’t help you stand out. Quite the opposite, a resume containing such expressions will never beat an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Too Long

Ideally, your resume shouldn’t exceed one page. If it’s too long, for example, more than two pages, there’s a risk that you won’t get employed for quite a while. It might sound harsh, but it’s actually true.

You might think about the length of your resume as a sign of respect toward someone else’s time. At those companies where resume-scanning software is not used, hiring managers need to go through every job application manually. They can’t spend hours reading candidates’ memoirs and assessing their experiences.

To engage a recruiter in reading your resume, you need to ensure that it’s concise. It doesn’t mean that your CV should be too short. It still has to include all the necessary information about your skills and working experience.

Typos and Grammar Errors

If you want to invest in your career by creating a great resume, you should invest time in proofreading it. Otherwise, all your previous efforts will fail. A recruiter won’t be impressed by your executive summary, quantified accomplishments, and conciseness if there are spelling or grammar mistakes in your text.

To appear as a professional, you should write like one. Don’t underestimate the importance of a flawless text. It can affect your image in either a positive or negative way. So, take your time to polish it. This way, you’ll make sure that you’ve done your best to beat an ATS and increased the chances that someone would recruit you.

It’s typical to miss some details if you’ve spent too much time composing your CV. Ask a friend to revise your resume before applying to any job positions. They will help you detect any spelling or grammar mistakes that you could have missed. Their feedback might help to make your resume better.

Wrapping Up

A well-written resume is a must for someone who wants to boost their career. If you’re on a job hunt, make sure your CV seems great not only to you. Take into account the opinion of those people who can potentially employ you.

Write a short executive summary and use numbers instead of words when describing your accomplishments. Then, make sure that there are no passive voice and clichés as well as spelling and grammar mistakes. Finally, your CV should be no longer than one page.

Hopefully, all these recommendations will help you beat the competition and land your dream job in no time.