Resume Improvement Stratagies

It is a sink or swim job market, but by following seven simple steps you will be guaranteed to keep your head above water.

The days of looking in your local newspaper to find your dream job are long gone. In the new millennium, job searchers and employers alike, are turning to internet resources such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com. These web sites provide a forum for both, employers and job searchers, to exchange information quickly and efficiently. However, due to the astronomical number of people accessing these internet resources, it is likely that your resume will be lost in the crowd. By making a few simple formatting changes to your resume, you can greatly improve the chances of your resume being seen.

Step 1: Don’t use a formatting program like Resume Wizard. I know, it is tempting, but don’t do it. Many employers use resume scanning programs to select which resumes to review. These programs search through mountains of applicants resumes, and choose only those that contain a predefined set of qualifications. These scanning programs have difficulty reading resumes formatted using the Resume Wizard. The spacing and layout of an automatically formatted resume can cause the scanners to jumble the information and over look applicants that meet the set of qualifications. I do not suggest throwing away your automatically-formatted resume. It will be best used at a face-to-face interview. I am only suggesting that you keep a plain-text-formatted resume on hand to post on internet job search web sites. Plain text means no bullets, numbering or unusual spacing.

Step 2: Bring out your best. Each of us has a certain set of skills, qualifications or experiences that highlight our abilities and successes. Bring these pieces of information to the front of your resume. Create a special skills section under your contact information on the first page. Most employers spend less than one minute reviewing an applicants resume. By highlighting your most attractive skills immediately on the first page you can be assured that there will be no confusion regarding your qualifications.