{"id":13729,"date":"2015-02-05T03:33:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T09:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=13729"},"modified":"2015-02-05T12:00:42","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T18:00:42","slug":"6-tips-to-beef-up-your-resume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=13729","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips to Beef Up Your Resum\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Sean O\u2019Brien, former Head Editor, INALJ Colorado<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

previously published 3\/20\/13 & 3\/25\/14<\/em><\/p>\n

6 Tips to Beef Up Your Resum\u00e9<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"seano1\"<\/a>So, you\u2019ve beefed up your work history<\/a>, found a great resource for job listings<\/a>, and now you\u2019re itching to get out there and start applying for jobs. \u00a0However, sending out applications can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming steps of your job search, especially after it feels like you\u2019re endlessly filling out the same information only to get no response it all. \u00a0Don\u2019t fret, because I’m here to give you a few tips on how to get the most out of your time spent applying.<\/p>\n

6. Seek Professional Help.<\/strong><\/span>
\nNo beating around the bush on this one. \u00a0If you have access to professional resum\u00e9 writing assistance, use it. \u00a0Use it, use it, use it. \u00a0If you\u2019re still in school or have recently graduated, go look up your Career Services department. \u00a0The rules are going to vary per academic institution, but you may be entitled to help free of charge. \u00a0Either way, it\u2019s worth checking out!<\/p>\n

If that isn\u2019t an option, consider looking up a local career assistance center or even a professional resum\u00e9 writer. \u00a0These services often come at a cost, but you may want to consider the investment if you\u2019re not getting any bites with your current set of bait.<\/p>\n

5. Customize It!<\/strong><\/span>
\nAside from getting professional assistance, this is my all-time favorite bit of resum\u00e9 advice; customize every resum\u00e9 you send out to fit the specific job you are applying for. \u00a0That\u2019s right, I said resum\u00e9 (it should hopefully go without saying this that you need to customize your cover letters). \u00a0\u201cUuugh,\u201d you say. \u00a0\u201cThat will take forever,\u201d you say. \u00a0Maybe, but consider this: is it better to send off a single tailor-made resum\u00e9 that will be seriously considered, or blast off five generic ones in the same amount of time, only to have them immediately dropped in the wastebasket?<\/p>\n

There is a great deal of competition for jobs right now, and if it\u2019s not immediately apparent how your work history is relevant to the job posting, your potential employer isn\u2019t going to want to spend much time trying to figure it out. \u00a0That\u2019s why it needs to be clear from the get-go. \u00a0Make them feel like you were made for this job, and that it was made for you.<\/p>\n

4. Brevity is Your Friend.<\/strong><\/span>
\nIt\u2019s always tempting to really expand on your experiences, because hey. \u00a0You\u2019re trying to sell yourself, right? \u00a0Still, you want to fight that urge as much as you can, and make sure your resum\u00e9 is in a clean, concise, easy-to-read package. \u00a0Hiring managers are only human, and even their attention spans start to wane after they\u2019ve sifted through a few dozen applications. \u00a0If they\u2019re going to be reviewing your credentials, you don\u2019t want to give them the time to get bored.<\/p>\n

There is some debate about how long exactly you want your resum\u00e9 to be, but ultimately it\u2019s going to come down to the details of what job you\u2019re applying for, and how much text you feel you need to get your info out there. \u00a0Some experts claim that you never want your resum\u00e9 longer than a single page, but I personally find that a two-page document better reflects my work history. \u00a0It all comes down to what you\u2019re comfortable with.<\/p>\n

3. Save the Ranting for Facebook.<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhenever you\u2019re filling out your work history, there\u2019s always a space that asks you to explain why you left your last job. \u00a0Was your last boss a total lunatic? \u00a0Yeah, maybe. \u00a0That sort of thing does actually happen, and everyone knows it. \u00a0Does your prospective employer know for certain that your side of the story is completely accurate? \u00a0Nope, not a chance. \u00a0In fact, this sort of outburst may throw your stability and ability to work with others into question, and label you as an unknown quantity that the boss may prefer to avoid entirely. \u00a0Give them an answer that honestly reflects what happened, but don\u2019t go into great detail or use language that might seem bitter or inflammatory.<\/p>\n

This advice goes double for when you go for the interview later, when you might really feel the sudden urge to lash out at your former boss.<\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Give It the Once-Over. \u00a0In Fact, Do It Twice.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThis one\u2019s as easy as it is important; proofread your work. \u00a0Spellcheck is nice, but won\u2019t catch words that don\u2019t make sense in context, or the dreaded \u201cyour vs. you\u2019re\u201d breed of common errors. \u00a0Take the time to give your resum\u00e9 a nice, thorough check to make sure everything\u2019s correct, and that you haven\u2019t made any embarrassing mistakes such as misspelling the name of the library you\u2019re applying to.<\/p>\n

In fact, you may want to take a minute to look up some of the common errors with contractions and possessive forms, and make sure you haven\u2019t forgotten anything they stopped teaching after the 5th grade. \u00a0No, mistaking a possessive form of a word for its plural isn\u2019t going to affect your ability to do your job. \u00a0Yes, it is going to irritate the person reading your resum\u00e9 if they catch it.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Be Patient.<\/strong><\/span>
\nJob hunting is stressful and tough, no two ways about it. \u00a0It can be easy to get discouraged, but sometimes the most important thing is to just keep plugging away at it. \u00a0Sometimes it may be months before a hiring department even selects resum\u00e9s to interview, so don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re being totally ignored. \u00a0If you\u2019re having absolutely no luck at all, you may want to examine your resum\u00e9 and application process to see if it can\u2019t be improved in any way. \u00a0Remember that you can always improve, and that sometimes it\u2019s just a matter of waiting.<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s it for this article, but tune in next month where I\u2019ll talk about how to ace that interview once you get it. \u00a0And, as always, best of luck in your job searches!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sean O\u2019Brien, former Head Editor, INALJ Colorado previously published 3\/20\/13 & 3\/25\/14 6 Tips to Beef Up Your Resum\u00e9 So, you\u2019ve beefed up your work history, found a great resource for job listings, and now you\u2019re itching to get out there and start applying for jobs. \u00a0However, sending out applications can be one of…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,3630,112,3844],"class_list":["post-13729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-colorado","tag-resume","tag-sean-obrien"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/seano1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-3zr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}