How Can You Make Your Resume Stand Out? Top 25 Tips to Catch Employers' Attention

Catalyst's Top 25 Tips for a Better Resume

1. Be neat and error-free. Catch all typos and grammar errors. Make sure to have someone proofread your resume, preferably someone attentive to details. Even the smallest error could land your resume in the electronic recycle bin.

2. State specific objectives. Form a solid, clear objective that will help you carry a focused message throughout the resume. The objective summarizes your skills and emphasizes your strengths.

3. Why does the employer need you? Focus on highlighting accomplishments that will arouse the interest of employers who read resumes asking themselves: "What can this candidate do for me?" Remember that the goal is to get the interview.

Make a Good First Impression
On average, employers spend less than 30 seconds scanning each resume. Most employers are more concerned about career achievements than education. Place the most interesting and compelling facts about yourself at the beginning, such as a list of accomplishments in order of relevance.

Emphasize Your Skills
Use a skill-based resume format that is organized around the main talents you have to offer. Prioritize everything.

Use Keywords
Include specific keywords and phrases that describe your skills and experience, such as Product Launch, Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Sales, Account Management, C++, Visual Basic, Word Processing, MS Excel, Adobe Illustrator, Graphic Design, and Advertising.

Use Buzzwords
Incorporate industry jargon and acronyms to demonstrate your familiarity with the employer's business. However, avoid overusing them to the extent that it hinders the readability or comprehension of your resume. If acronyms are not widely recognized, spell them out in parentheses, for example, TQM (Total Quality Management).

Utilize Action Verbs
Present yourself as proactive, accomplished, intelligent, and capable of making a valuable contribution by using action verbs. Examples of effective action verbs include Managed, Launched, Created, Directed, Established, Organized, and Supervised.

Steer Clear of Personal Pronouns
Refrain from using 'I' or 'me' in your resume. Instead of full sentences, opt for concise, action-oriented phrases. For instance, replace a sentence like "I coordinated and published a weekly newsletter concerning local community events" with "Coordinated and published a weekly newsletter concerning local community events."

Highlight Key Points
Although most formatting such as bold, italics, and underlining is lost in an electronic resume, you may use capital letters, quotation marks, or even asterisks to emphasize important words or section titles.

Summarize Information
While electronic resumes may exceed the traditional one to two-page limit of paper resumes, in most cases, it should not exceed three pages.

List Only Recent Information
The general rule of thumb is to show your work experience only for the last 10 to 15 years.

Quantify Your Experience
Numbers are a powerful tool. Instead of saying "Responsible for increasing sales in my territory," use "Increased sales in my territory by 150% in 6 months. Managed 30 accounts for annual revenues of $2M."

Be Organized, Logical, and Concise
In addition to reviewing your experience, employers also use the resume to get a sense of whether you are organized, logical, and concise.

Just Communicate
Avoid the use of excessive, fancy vocabulary. In other words, don't attempt to impress employers with the depth of your vocabulary. Use words that everyone can understand, as the recruiter will not process you.

Omit Salary Information
Never include references to salary in your resume.

Avoid Questionable Subjects
Do not include personal information such as race, religion, marital status, age, political party, or personal views. In most cases, it would be illegal for the employer to consider such issues. Also, refrain from using humor and clichés in most resumes.

Be Honest
Lying or exaggerating your abilities will always come back to haunt you. Since employers usually check into serious candidates, you will want every detail to check out.

Sell Yourself
Do not under-emphasize your strengths and experience. Portray yourself in the best possible light. Skills that come naturally to you, others may never grasp.

Write Your Resume
Be personal, yet professional. Create a resume that is personalized to reflect you.

Personal Traits
If you decide to include personal traits, such as "Dependable, Highly-Organized, Self-Motivated, and Responsible," make sure they are applicable to the position desired. Will the employer consider them valuable?

22. Show Consistency
To de-emphasize glaring gaps in your work history, consider using a functional resume, which focuses on your skills and accomplishments rather than a chronological format, which emphasizes the progression of your experience.

23. Be Balanced and Neat
An effective resume is balanced, neat, visually appealing, and flows consistently. Clearly separate sections and emphasize section titles. Leave sufficient blank space between sections for easy reading.

24. Stick with Common Section Headings
Use common section headings. Examples include: Objective, Experience, Employment, Work History, Skills, Summary, Summary of Qualifications, Accomplishments, Strengths, Education, Professional Affiliations, Publications, Licenses and Certifications, Honors, Personal, Additional, and References.

25. Be Positive
Remove any negative comments or feelings conveyed in your resume, especially regarding previous employment experiences. Emphasize a positive, can-do attitude.