How To Make Your Resume Truly Stand Out

The job market has become increasingly competitive over the last few decades. Lots of job hopefuls are struggling to find work that suits their needs, with countless applications being made for positions which only have one spot available. But we give you our top tips help your resume stand out from the rest of the pack.

The Design
The first area to consider is the design. While a resume is a profession document, it is worth considering the state of mind that someone will be in after looking at hundreds of the same documents.  Something "different" may stand out from the doldrums of other resumes. There are a plethora of websites which offer templates to create a resume that stands out from the rest. It is worth adding a personal touch to designs, as this will ensure that no one else has a resume which looks exactly the same as yours. Especially consider the design of your resume if you are in a creative field like marketing or graphic design, this may be a great chance to show off your skills even before they meet you.

The Personality
Once you have figured out the design of your resume, think about the personality you want your resume to capture. Your resume needs read well. Grammarly is a great tool to make sure your writing is professional, as it offers suggestions while explaining why you need to make certain changes. Of course, some people will be able to handle this for themselves, though most will benefit from a little bit of support. Professional photography can also help spruce up your resume. Many candidates and even job applications require a photograph with your application.  You can hire a photographer to take a great headshot to go on your resume and if you have not already done so, you should have a similarly clear headshot on your LinkedIn profile as that is the next place a recruiter will look if they are interested in calling you in for an interview. 

The Skills and Experience
Additional are to consider is your skills and experience. These are two different things and often resumes conflate the two.  You should always have the right skills for the jobs your applying for - for example do you have the undergraduate degree or the certificate or license that the job requires - that is a skill set that you have to have.  The experience is often used for tenure or management level distinctions so it also makes sense to put a certain emphasis on the experience. For example, if you wanted to become a manager, it would make sense to highlight your past experience in similar roles and how you have been successful at managing others, rather than making note that you have the required skills/licenses to do the job the main elements of the resume.

The Tangibility Factor
Make a recruiter or potential boss touch and feel your resume . This is one of the hardest things to do on a resume but one of the most important in our view. Try to quantify how you have had an impact in your prior positions.  Rather than say "Reduce cost by creating more efficient processes" say "reduce year over year spend on third party print vendors by 20% through quarterly pre-planning meetings with company stakeholders."  If the number itself sounds better than the percentage - use the number - reduce year over year spend by $3,000,000..."  Those are real numbers to any business person and a recruiter or potential boss will love see that on a resume. 

ProTip - Make sure to triple check your name, address, email address,  and phone number at the top of your resume so they are correct! We  have seen people get that wrong! And your email should be gmail or modern email account - no hotmail, yahoo, etc. - it is 2019 after all! 

Creating a resume is a challenging job. There are a lot of websites which are supposed to help, though they often follow generic ideas which a lot of people will be using. You’re going to need to be creative to overcome this, We hope these tip help you develop your resume and if you have  your own pro tips please tell us in the comments.  While this may help you get to the interview stage - we also have a youtube video that will help you ensure you get that call back after the first interview!
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