I was the co-founder of MakeMyResume, a career services startup from 2017 to 2019. In this experience, I learnt a lot about optimizing resumes to get through to a job interview.
Here are some of my top tips through research and first-hand experience:
First, starting with the content, you can achieve big gains by small enhancements to your resume.
Content
- Replace the objective with a summary [+30% boost]
- Demonstrate results with quantified accomplishments [+40% boost]
- Mention Individual Contributions [+51% boost]
- Use Leadership Words To Convey Strength [+51% boost]
- Start Work Experience bullet points with strong and distinct action verbs [+140% boost]
- Don’t use “I, me, my” pronouns [+55% boost]
- Include 15-20 industry keywords matching the Job Description [+59% boost]
- Squeeze 475-600 Words Into Your 1-Page Resume [+75% boost]
Presentation
Typography and Design
- Using principles of Typography and Design, we've been able to design the best resume format
- Visual Hierarchy is the placement of different text and media content to establish a relationship between one part of the content to the other and helps in readability
Heading
- A clear, bold name with established visual hierarchy, gives prominence to the name and improves the - chances of recall by differentiating from the crowd of resumes
- Key contact, location information with relevant online links is visible and accessible at the top of the page
- Links are in a muted shade of blue (#0070C0) that is not distracting to the reader
Section Titles
- Using a formatting technique of increased character spacing for all caps section titles leads to it not dominate the page, but gently guiding the reader to the actual content
Work Experience
- Name of the company is in CAPS to differentiate it from other sections, creating another level of visual hierarchy
- Designation is in Bold to draw the reader’s attention
- All dates are right-aligned to make it easier for the recruiter/hiring manager to skim through the experience and make a quick assessment of the years of experience
- Categories/buckets are italicized and used to organize relevant points under the respective headers (especially used for customers who have extensive experience in multiple functions/work areas)
- Bold is used sparingly throughout the resume to call out attention to the major points. Overuse can result in the reader only focussing on the bold elements, overlooking the other content as well as reader fatigue
- Accomplishment numbers are in italics to draw attention to them without being overwhelming to the reader
One more minor point while sending the resume instead of this format:
Resume_FirstName_LastName.pdf Use: FirstName LastName Resume.pdf
It's a minor thing but it makes it easier to find in a folder.
If you want access to the resume template that I have created and recommend to all around me, here is the link.
References:
[1] Talent (dot) works
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