At the helm of 360HR, with over 15 years experience in the Staffing/Recruiting industry, Tonie is a Social-Impact Entrepreneur and Chief Diversity JobMingler. During her own search for employment where she could bring her “entire self” to work, 360HR was founded.
Her element is educating clients in understanding diversity is ONLY the first step, inclusion is the goal. Tonie believes in a high touch candidate experience and her realm of expertise lies in diversity sourcing/recruiting candidates in Tech, Healthcare and Oil/Gas industries.
When she is not connecting with people and opportunities and mingling the two, she enjoys conversing with family/friends and trying out new recipes or eateries. Most often, you will find her spending time at home with her partner, “The Brilliant One” and their furbabies, Bryndie Sou and Daizee Mae.
A good resume is the first step that opens up a world of hiring possibilities.
There are a lot of how-to guides and tips out there designed to help you improve your resume, but sometimes you get the itching feeling that those articles might have been written a few decades ago by greedy corporations laughing on top of their stacks of money. We get it.
360HR’s goal in this blog is to help you revise your resume and make sure that the right components are in the right places. Follow these 8 steps, and you’ll have a relevant resume that’s much more likely to land your next interview:
Save your Resume File a Specific Way
Employers could potentially receive thousands of emails for any given position. When a company is hiring for more than one position, the situation can get out of hand in terms of organization. Although getting lost in the mix is unlikely to happen, it’s always a good idea to save your resume with the following template:
Firstname.Lastname – Role Title.
Having your resume saved like this helps saves time when a recruiter is trying to find you in a stack of resumes. Hey, it might help you find it on your own computer as well. The quicker your resume can be located and attributed accurately to you, the better your chances are of moving forward in the hiring process.
For Technology Workers – Say You’re a U.S. Citizen
There’s a lot of talent in the Tech world, and not all of it is in the United States. Many companies will sift through to find local candidates first. Since you’re not looking to get a visa and a job, if your name has an international heritage it’s a good idea to say you are a citizen on your resume.
Contact Information is Essential
If you can’t be contacted, you won’t be getting an interview. It’s that simple. You should always, without exception, include your name, email, phone number, and any relevant social media links on your resume. Make sure the information is accurate too – you don’t want the interview given to the wrong person!
Only include city and state you’re currently in since most companies are only looking to hire locally. If you’re willing to relocate, it’s best to leave out the city and state – but do this judiciously. Leave off your physical address because identity theft is very real.
Create a Professional Summary
A professional summary is the elevator pitch about you. It’s your branding story. This section is where you can target your resume to effectively show how your skillset and personality will fit the company you’ve chosen.
Be careful you don’t put too much information here, employers aren’t looking for how many pets you own or a biography of your life. Be brief, and make sure you leave out any “objective statements” about how you’re trying to get the job. They know you want employment. Just tell them your superpower and let the rest of your resume do its job.
Highlight your Skills – Specifically – Keywords
Having a section where you highlight your skills is absolutely essential. In concise language, list out the most relevant Hard Skills (what you can do), Technical Skills (the tools you use to do what you do), and Soft Skills (How you relate to people around you when you do what you do) specifically using keywords in the actual job description you are applying for.
These give employers a quick snapshot of your abilities and how you can contribute to their company professionally. However, keep it relevant – juggling is good for clowns, not contractors.
Include Professional Experience
It’s always a good idea to include any professional experience you’ve had. Your experience is what backs up your professional summary and skillsets, so you need to make you have it right.
Always list experience in reverse chronological order – with month/year dating only. Giving your most recent experience saves the recruiter time and effort when checking out your history. It’s also best to include no more than 15 years of experience since higher level positions typically only ask up to that figure.
For candidates still in school, it’s usually wise to put experience after education – which we’ll cover next.
Know Where and How to List Your Education
Education, like experience, helps you back up the skill sets you have. It’s best to list education in reverse chronological order, starting with the highest level of education you’ve achieved and working backward. Include dates only if you’ve graduated within the last 5 years – otherwise, it’s generally not important.
As we mentioned when talking about experience, only include education before experience if you are a current student. This helps tip off potential employers that you’ll be graduating soon and immediately lets them know that your priority has been education for the past few years.
List Professional Affiliations
It’s not entirely unheard of for some companies to research you and grant interviews based on what professional affiliations you have, so don’t exclude this section. There are quite a few organizations that foster professional growth in any given industry, and sometimes joining can give you the edge you need to get an interview.
Keep One More Thing in Mind:
Resumes should jump off the page. They are to get the interview. The interview is to get the job.