Skills Section
This part of your resume is where you get to showcase what skills you have that make you standout. The skills can vary from soft skills ( communication, conflict resolution) to hard skills (software tools, mathematics, industry knowledge).
When deciding what skills to place in this section, it’s useful to extract the skills from previous jobs/experience you have had and also which skills you enjoy doing. A good example of extracting skills is if you worked on a team to bring a product to market, you could extract both soft skills in working with a team and the relevant hard skills in building a product.
Be mindful that when applying to various jobs it is useful to revise this section for an opportunity to match skills required for the job. An example could be a niche skill required for a job, which you may happen to have, but might not be relevant to include for most jobs.
Proofreading
There’s nothing worse than sending in an application you have worked hours on, only to realize that there are spelling mistakes! A good way to mitigate this is to have peers review your resume, reading it out loud or using a grammar tool.
There are fantastic grammar tools like Grammarly and we also have a built in language tool with over 20+ languages supported! Use a grammar and spell checking tool to ensure you don't have any mistakes.
Consistent, Strong, Active Language
Consistent language is key to having a cohesive resume. We recommend using active language throughout your resume instead of passive language. An example is: I was in a fast paced team that had made a product that was used by ten thousand users
to Worked in a fast paced team that developed a product used by ten thousand users.
Notice how the active language phrase reads more concisely yet sounds stronger? Using this across your resume reads better and can help your resume stand out.
A compelling resume will have evidence to back your claims. Saying you are a programmer that is good at python is not as strong as saying you worked on an enterprise python application and committed over ten thousand lines of code.
Education Section
The second section of your resume will most likely be an education section. This is a great time to showcase your relevant educational background or credentials that make you a good fit for the job. An example of an educational or certificate could be:
Job Specific Resumes
Applying to hundreds of jobs can take a lot of your time. You may find yourself sending the same resume to different job applications and although you may think you are saving time you are actually lessening your chance of getting an interview!
A good strategy to have a stand out application is to tailor your resume with specifics of the job you are applying for. If the job is looking for Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet as a primary skill, it would be advantageous to re-order your skills section and possibly provide another example showcasing your excel experience.