Career Blog: 5 Ways to Strengthen your Resume today!

Whichever kind of job you’re targeting, there are a few universal things you can do to strengthen your resume and stand out above the rest.  While it’s understandably difficult to edit your own resume, try to look at it objectively and consider the following things.  With a few tweaks, you can turn your resume from boring to “I really hope she accepts my job offer!”  As a Boston career counselor, I recommend:

1. Eliminate out-of-date phrases.  This includes taking off the totally unnecessary, “References provided upon request.”  Are you really telling me that you wouldn’t provide references to someone thinking of hiring you?  I think it goes without saying.  Also, skip the old-fashioned “Objective” statement.  A resume should be about what you can do for an employer, not what they can do for you!  Use a Summary instead.

2. Eliminate even more stuff!  Challenge yourself to read through your resume with a fine-toothed comb and cross out at least 5 words or phrases that don’t need to be there.  This includes general statements like, “Additional tasks upon request” or “Ad hoc assignments as requested.”  These are empty and lacking in resume value.  Try to get rid of overused phrases like “excellent written and verbal communication skills” or “attention to detail,” as in “Used my excellent written and oral communication skills to work with clients.”  Focus on what you accomplished, not empty phrases.  Another thing to avoid is using three verbs to say the same thing, as in “Developed, designed, and wrote guidebook.”  One verb will usually suffice.

3. Ask: How can I quantify this?  For each resume bullet, try to think of ways to quantify the scope or amount of success.  This could include number of people/users, dollars saved or earned, clients retained or gained, percent improvement or time saved.  And yes, you can use a good faith estimate if you don’t have specific numbers (but be honest!).

4. Ask: What was the purpose? How can I show success?  Now look at each resume bullet and make sure you’re showing the positive result of your actions (not just listing the tasks you did).  Of course, I understand you can’t always see the positive result.  In that case, focus on explaining what the advantage should be to the business or client.  How did you help by doing what you did?

5. File name.  It sounds simple, but it’s easy to make the wrong choice!  “Resume.doc” may be the only resume on your computer, but the hiring manager probably has a few hundred!  I recommend using your name and resume as in “Holly-Klose-resume.doc.”  Avoid using the date in your file name as you may accidentally send a resume with last year’s date (which looks bad!).  Also, even if you’re an early adopter, don’t use the latest and greatest version of Word as hiring managers may not be able to open your resume!