When applying for jobs, the resume is one of the first pieces of information your staffing firm or future employer will receive about you, so it is very important that your resume showcase your skills and previous work experience. Your resume will help your staffing recruiter place you in a position that will fit your skills, work experience, and career aspirations. So, what can you do to ensure that your resume best reflects your strengths and experience? Here are a few helpful tips.
- Be Clear and Concise
If possible, try to keep your entire resume on one page, so all of your information is in the same space and can be referred to easily and quickly. Use a legible font and color for the text. Times New Roman is a great option, and black is typically the best font color to use. Organize your resume so that all of the information you provide is clear. Begin with your name and contact information at the top, followed by your work experience, education, and skills. Lastly, create as much blank space on the page as possible. While it is helpful to fit everything on one page, space will help your recruiter read with the most ease and hold onto the details of your resume.
- Key Words
It’s essential to use key words in your resume to help your recruiter find the right job for you. Recruiters will look for keywords from their job description in your resume, looking for a match. Key words include everything from describing your skills to explaining the tasks that you did at your previous job. Business News Daily suggests using phrases like “manages projects effectively” and “coordinates tasks” as ways to describe your organizational skills; for management skills, they suggest phrases such as “delegates responsibly,” “implements decisions,” and “enforces policies.”
Precise action verbs, such as advises, improves, recruits, resolves, negotiates and motivates, are wonderful ways to describe your experience and will showcase your skills in a stronger way.
- Dot your “i”s and Cross Your “t”s
One of the most important things that you can do before submitting your resume is proofread it! Have a friend or family member take a look at your resume for you. A second pair of eyes will help you find spelling, formatting, or grammatical errors that are hard to see after looking at the same document for so long. Make sure that you title your document (which you should always send as a PDF to avoid the formatting accidentally changing) carefully. While “Resume” might be an appropriate title for your own desktop, it can be really helpful to your recruiters if you include more information (for example: “Jane Doe Resume”). Lastly, always keep an updated copy of your resume so that it is ready to send in a moment’s notice.
While these are all simple ways to improve your resume, these tricks will set you apart. As one of the leading staffing agencies in Mississippi, Staffers offers temp, temp-to-perm, and direct hire positions. Check out our website for available positions and our blog for more tips on how to find a job in Jackson!
