Resume Content Tips

Recruiters don’t give your resume much time to impress. According to Time magazine, recruiters spend only six seconds looking at a candidate’s resume before making their decision about your application. That’s why it’s so important to craft an effective resume that’s concise, well-structured, and impactful. Here, we’ll give you five tips to ensure your resume is interview-worthy.

Follow the standard format.

A resume isn’t the place to be creative. Instead, include information that recruiters want to read. More than anything else, you should highlight these features: your name, your current and previous positions with titles, start, and end dates, and your education.

Don’t create visual distractions.

Recruiters will look at the information included in a straightforward resume more carefully than they will at one that is cluttered with extra dividers, boxes, or colors. Don’t make a recruiter wait to read key information; instead, create an organized visual hierarchy that lets them focus on the content.

Summarize your skills and abilities.

Don’t make recruiters dig to find the factors that make you stand out. Instead, summarize your qualifications in resume sections labeled “Professional Profile” and “Areas of Expertise.” In the Professional Profile, write a paragraph about yourself that highlights your years of expertise, the fields in which you’ve worked, and your accomplishments. Under “Areas of Expertise,” list your experience in different sectors using a bulleted format.

Use quantitative examples.

One of the biggest problems with finance resumes is that they don’t use examples properly. To demonstrate the value you could add to a company, describe experiences in which you solved problems, using quantitative, specific language to prove your point. For example, you could say you “increased customer satisfaction by 10%” or “shortened closing time by 3 days.”

Describe your experience using the SAR format.

For each of your previous positions, ensure that the employer understands your unique duties. To do this, use the SAR method in the bullet section for each position. SAR stands for Situation, Actions, and Results. In some or all of your bullets for each position, describe a problem (S), the steps you took to solve the problem (A), and the results of your actions (R). In the results section, it’s a good idea to include quantitative examples, as described above.

Your resume is one of the most important factors in getting your foot in the door with your target company. If you’re not getting interviews for positions for which you qualify, consult Career Moves LLC for feedback on your application materials. We’ve helped over 450 professionals land the jobs they always wanted with over 85 of Connecticut’s most desirable companies.