Your resume has one main job, which is to catch the eyes of potential employers and to give you the reason they need to hire you. If you’re genuinely passionate about the industry that you work in, the chances are that you’re already doing everything you need to be doing.
If you’re interested in building your personal brand then you need to develop an online presence. This could be as simple as starting to tweet about the industry you specialize in or as complex as launching blogs, podcasts and YouTube channels.
Your online presence, combined with the fact that you’re already showing an interest in your industry, will help you to prove that you’re the right person for the jobs you’re applying to. The key is knowing just what you need to include in your resume, which is where this article comes in. Let’s go.
8 Things You Should Include In Your Resume
1. Contact details
This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often people mess this up. Remember that different recruiters have different personal preferences, so it’s a good idea to list everything from telephone numbers and email addresses to social networking links and your Skype username. At the same time, though, you need to make sure that you’re not overwhelming recruiters with too much choice.
2. Customized introduction
Nothing screams lack of interest like a generic resume with no cover letter. One of the best ways to stand out from the crowd when applying for jobs is to have a short section at the start of your resume that explains why you think you’re right for the job. You can change this for each application to improve your chances of standing out from the crowd.
3. Personality
Recruiters often have to review literally hundreds of different resumes for every position, which means that after a while, they start to blend together. The good news is that you can make yourself stand out by showing some personality, whether that’s by including a photograph in your resume or whether it’s in the way you talk about your hobbies and pastimes. Showing personality is always a good idea because if it turns a potential employer off then they weren’t a good fit for you in the first place.
4. Qualifications
This might sound obvious, but any qualifications that you possess are a must-have on your resume, from certifications that you’ve earned at educational institutions to on-the-job experience that you’ve received throughout your career. Your qualifications might not get you the job by themselves, but they will at least show that you’ll be able to do it if they select you.
5. Metrics
Most people are pretty good at talking about their experience as a whole, but too often they forget to include solid metrics. For example, instead of saying you led a sales team, talk about how many people were in the team and how they performed against their sales targets. These more solid metrics give people a tangible reason to employ you instead of you just asking them to trust you.
6. Testimonials
One thing I learned from resume-writing-services.reviews is that testimonials make all of the difference. Now I go out of my way to embed a short quote from each of the jobs that I list on my resume, and I recommend doing the same. It acts as a form of social proof, similar to product reviews and ratings on e-commerce sites.
7. Life goals
People stay at their jobs for an average of 4.6 years, which means that a job isn’t for life as it once was. Most employers now know and appreciate that, and they also appreciate jobseekers’ honesty during the early stages. The vast majority of employers will go out of their way to help employees to achieve their goals because they know it increases loyalty and therefore productivity and longevity. Plus it helps to establish your personality, too.
8. Call-to-action
Calls-to-action are borrowed from sales and marketing and the concept is pretty simple: if you tell someone what to do next, they’re more likely to do it. A call-to-action isn’t vital for your resume, but if you have space to squeeze one in at the end then it’s a good idea to do so. Try listing your phone number and encouraging recruiters to give you a call to find out more.
Conclusion
Now that you know what to include in your resume, the next step is for you to go ahead and update it. Don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals if you need a little help and be sure to sign up to alerts on job portals so you don’t miss out on an opportunity. If you put the work in, you’ll find the perfect job for you in no time. Good luck!