Simple tip to instantly improve your resume results

You've heard that customizing your resume for each opening is the way to go, but going one extra (and easy!) step can greatly improve your chances that a hiring company will contact you.

Here’s my fast tip: Spit back the main job requirements in the job description in order in a professional summary section near the top of your resume. 

Do this instead of all of the usual information you might normally include in this section. Scroll to see what I mean.

Relay the job requirements in order to make it easy for recruiters to see that you are qualified.

For example, if the job description requires the following attributes …

• Bachelor’s degree
• 5+ years of relevant experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Superior project management abilities
• Microsoft Office Suite proficiencies

… Spit back the information in order in your professional summary like this …

Professional Summary

• BA - Bachelor of Arts [WITH EMPHASIS IN RELEVANT COURSES]
• 7+ years of [RELEVANT EXPERIENCE – DON’T MAKE YOUR YEARS OF EXPERIENCE OVERLY HIGH LEST YOU SOUND EXPENSIVE]
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including [QUICK LIST OF RELEVANT COMMUNICATION SUCCESSES]
• Superior project management abilities including [BRIEF EXAMPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT]
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite applications including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook.

If possible, keep each proof point to a single, bulleted line so it is particularly easy to read.

Why will this work better? Instead of making the recruiter search through every line of your resume to find out if you have the right skills/background, you (unlike your competition) will practically shout that you are qualified in your summary where it will be easy to spot. An additional benefit of adding such requirements to your summary is that your resume will sail through a company’s keyword search software program which is used to weed out less qualified applicants.

Of course, you should also pump up other parts of your resume to match the job description and add a bold headline that relates to the job title.

The bottom line: Spit back the job requirements in order in your resume! It help you land a job or a better one!

Will this tip help or hurt your chances of getting hired? Share your comments or questions via the Contact page.

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