5 Tips to Re-vamp Your Resume and Getting it Noticed  

It’s interesting: we hear about how it’s impossible to hire great people, yet there are more open roles than there are candidates, and recruiters are always on the hunt for fresh talent to fill their corporate roles. Corporations receive hundreds of resumes daily, and corporate recruiters talk to numerous potential candidates daily.

On the flip side, applicants frequently submit loads of resumes in hopes of getting a response – but often only reap a generic bounce-back email stating that one’s resume “was received.”  That can be very daunting and frustrating when seeking a new role.

So here are a few tricks of the trade to get the attention of the corporate recruiter and/or hiring manager:

1. Understand the specific role for which you are applying, and ensure your resume tells a logical story about your qualifications for that role.  So often resumes are disconnected from the role for which the candidate is applying, that the recruiter will not spend more than a minute reading it through.  So here’s how to avoid that scenario:

Example 1: Tracy has been working in finance, but is interested in moving into marketing. Therefore, in her resume, she highlighted that she partnered with marketing on all of their vendor management contracts, in addition to leading training for new finance and marketing employees on the process and best practices.  In addition, Tracy noted that she was also on a special project team where the company re-branded themselves and re-did all marketing materials.  By showcasing these successes in her resume, she is helping to let employers better understand why she’s qualified for a marketing role.

Example 2: Sarah’s resume simply showed her current role at ABC Company as “Manager from 2007 – present.”  What was missing was that from during those five years she held different roles of individual contributor, team supervisor, and manager, and was interested in moving into a director position.  By now listing all those roles in her resume, she showed progression as well as experience at all levels, which is a key indicator that she’s been successful as she has progressed in her career.

2. Write a brilliant cover letter explaining why it makes sense that you should be considered for the role — particularly if you’re trying to get into a new industry or type of position, but your resume doesn’t currently have experience to align you to the role.  Here are some examples:

Example 1: Brenda had been an office manager for a few years and wanted to move into HR, so in her cover letter she shared all the HR-related responsibilities she had in her skillset and why she felt she was qualified to make the move.  This made her cover letter relevant and brilliant, and she’s now set up to interview for the job!

Example 2: Jennifer worked as an enrollment manager for 10 years and went to an IT Bootcamp, then began looking for a role in IT.  However, her resume had no direct IT experience, and therefore she wasn’t getting any responses to her resume submissions. So she wrote a cover letter explaining why she was switching industries and job, and outlined all of the projects she did in her IT Bootcamp.  She also shared that she had ten years of business experience – emphasizing that while she would be entry-level, she was a seasoned business individual, and could add value in many other ways outside of just IT.  By writing this very colorful cover letter, she was able to gain the attention of the corporate recruiters and hiring managers.

3. Highlight your responsibilities and amazing successes in your resume.  Don’t be afraid to brag! Did a project you implemented increase revenue or drive down expenses?  By how much?  Did you lead a team of fifteen people through an implementation?  Were you responsible for changing processes, and if so, what was the result?  This type of detail helps showcase why you should be considered for the role, as well as showing interest in overall business success.

4. Use Linkedin and other social media connections to see who you know at the companies where you want to work, so you can utilize your network to get your resume delivered with a good word about you. Forbes notes that referral candidates are twice as likely to get interviews, and 40% more likely to be hired than other candidates.  Also, research shows that referral hires tend to have greater job satisfaction and stay longer than non-referral candidates.

So consider adding your public link for Linkedin to your resume at the top (under your email address) as this allows the recruiter/hiring manager to see your profile and your connections, whom hopefully you may have in common. This is a good possibility, since Linked in is basically an online rolodex that allows “connections of connections” to network, find jobs, search potential candidates, review profiles, and discover if existing contacts can introduce to one another.

5. Last but not least, where possible, keep your resume to two pages.  This allows it to be simple, clean and easy to read.

It isn’t easy capturing the attention of corporate recruiters and hiring managers who see hundreds of resumes per day, but with these simple tips, you’ll gain attention and priority!