Technical recruiting is our specialty, of all disciplines & levels. That means the clientele we work with, are primarily Left Brained (sorry to stereotype!) Analytical, methodical, logical. There is a lot of thought put into their resumes from a technical standpoint, but sometimes other elements get overlooked.
Here are our Top 5 Tips on Resume Writing to kick off 2018.
Objective is out, Summary is in: The summary at the top of your resume should be on average, 4-10 sentences (Depending on experience). How many years do you have, what industries have you spanned, have you managed people/#, global/international experience, public/private employers, language skills, and then...the last sentence can be an "objective". If you have extra items to highlight, bullet them (under 2 Columns) below this Summary for a really nice impact.
Soft Skills: After technical ability - this is the most sought after piece on resumes that my clients look for. Are you able to manage culture change? Have you worked with multidisciplinary or multi-site teams? Have you led any transformations? How do you work with others? Many people find this piece hard to write about themselves, but just pick 4-5 words and describe the way you interact with others and get it on there!
Umbrella your experience. If you worked for a company for 10 years but 5 different jobs, summarize the years (2007 - 2017) and then break out each role individually by title & years. We want to see your career progression within the organization, and a quick-skim of the resume will still tout your job stability.
Snapshot your employers. I don't know what ABC Company does. It's hard for us to envision your role without understanding the organization. Under the Employer but above your job title....give me a one-liner about the company. For example: Founded in 1950, ABC company is a $2B global specialty manufacturer of hydraulics used in the transportation industry.
Continuity! I am amazed at how many resumes I see that have one segment different than other. Make sure all the fonts are the same, make sure the bullets are aligned, make sure the dates are uniform. Run a spell check.... it's a *DUH* comment, but do it! Spell checks typically don't catch CAPITALIZED words... so check your SUMARY AND RESPONSIBILTIES closely. Also, please, please, please, make sure you spelled Manger right if you are indeed a Manager.... We saw hundreds of those this year...
Good luck!
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