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Written by Sajan Prajapati. ✔️ Published and edited by Bonny Isselt.

Time To Read:

6–9 minutes

March 12, 2025

Category: Blog

A great resume is the first step toward landing a job. It is a marketing instrument to present skills, experience, and qualifications to prospective employers. The present job market being very competitive, one needs more than just work history to stand out.

The resume must be collaboratively written, crafted professionally, and aimed toward the job in question. Recruiters generally agree that a good resume can get you into the interview room, and they all emphasize better refinement of your resume.

This article notes from expert resume writers to assist job seekers in polishing their resumes to attract recruiters’ attention and improve hiring prospects.

Does your resume suck? Do you need Resume Writing Tips?

Before we continue, you must understand what a resume is.

A resume is your personal details that cover details about your last job, current job, where you live now, how to contact you, skills acquired, and education level in an organized manner.

Table of Contents (click here to open it).

1. Tailor Each Resume for Each Job

One major mistake job seekers commit is to use the same resume multiple times for several job applications. It may appear time-saving, but it seriously affects your hiring chances. The norm for hiring managers is to search for candidates closely matching the job requirements, so you must adjust your resume per job.

How to customize your resume:

Read the job description carefully, pulling out key skills and qualifications the employer seeks.
Change your professional summary and job experience categories to match relevant experience.
Include keywords from the job description to help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
Eliminate irrelevant work experience and skills that will not help you land this job.

2. Use a Clean and Professional Format

Your resume should be appealing yet easy to read. Recruiters spend seconds scanning through resumes, so visibility is a priority.

Guidelines for formatting:

Use a legible professional-type font such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.
List responsibilities and accomplishments as bullet points.
Highlight legibility by keeping the font size in 10-12 points.
Proper spacing and margins will ensure a balanced layout.
Avoid too much color, pictures, or questionable fonts that might confuse recruiters.

Crafting the perfect resume can take time, especially if one is unsure about its format or content. A resume builder application gives access to pre-designed templates, recommends keywords, and checks for errors.

Using such tools for your resume allows job seekers to develop a document formatted well, visually appealing, and even optimised to recruiter’s standards and that of an ATS, thus increasing the chances of being noticed.

3. Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Optimization of Your Resume

ATS performs resume screening before transferring the application files to the recruiters. Therefore, if a resume is not ATS-optimized, it may be discarded without being shown to the hiring manager.

Tips for making ATS-compliant resumes:

Use standard headings for resume sections: Work experience, education, and skills.
Do not use images, tables, or complex formatting, as these confuse ATS programming.
Use necessary keywords from the job description that make sense in the context of your resume.
Save as a .docx or .pdf file.

4. A Focus on Key Skills and Competencies

Candidates with a strong array of relevant skills are high on the priority list for hiring managers. To this end, your resume must have a skills section devoted to hard and soft skills.

How-you-should-list-your-skills:

Focus on technical skills relevant to the job: programming, project management, or financial analysis.
Get in essential soft skills: leadership, teamwork, and communication.
If applicable, mention any industry-specific certification or specialized training.
Put anything that matches the skills listed in the job description at the top of your list.

5. Focus on Achievements and Not Just Duties

One common mistake is that, most of the time, job seekers would list their responsibilities rather than actual accomplishments. According to hiring experts, one should focus more on tangible results that prove your impact on a given job.

How to write your bullet points based on achievement:

Use action verbs such as “implemented”, “developed”, “increased”, or “optimized.”
Always attach metrics to prove your success (like “Increased sales by 25% in 6 months”).
Showcase contributions on key areas such as operating efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction.
Avoid vague descriptions; be specific about what you contributed

6. Keep Resume Short and Relevant

Recruiters favor a concise, relevant resume, as claim by hiring experts. Though the resume of an experienced applicant may be long, he/she should include only what is necessary.

How to keep it concise:

With less than ten years of experience, a one-page resume is sufficient; if experience is extensive, two pages are allowed.
Focus on relevant and recent roles, preferably in the last 10-15 years.
Outdated information should go; i.e., eliminate anything about jobs that do not support careoals.
No personal information such as marital status, age, or unprofessional email address.

7. Create a Strong Summary Statement

An excellent summary statement at the resume’s top will allow easy navigation for recruiters as they quickly gather insight on who you are and the advantages you accord the company. This part must be brief, interesting, and tailored to the job you are applying for.

Points to include in your summary statement:

Some background on the extent of your professional experience and expertise.
Any significant skills and strengths that are adequate for the job.
A statement explaining how you will deliver value to the company.

Example: “Detail-oriented marketing professional with over five years of experience in digital marketing, content strategy, and brand management. Proven ability to increase customer engagement by 40 percent through data-driven campaigns. Looking to leverage SEO and social media marketing skills to drive growth at [Company Name].”

8. Mention Training and Certifications:

Certifications and professional training enhance your resume and draw employers’ attention. This shows your commitment to keep learning and stay abreast of changes in your profession.

Examples of good certifications:

Project Management Professional (PMP)
Google Analytics Certification
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Data Science AI concerns for certification programs

9. Proofreading to Eliminate Errors

Typos and grammatical mistakes can generate a bad impression in the minds of recruiters. Before submitting, proofread your resume and make sure it is error-free.

Ways to check for errors:

Spell-check with Grammarly or Microsoft Word.
When doing this, read the resume aloud so any awkward phrasing can be spotted.
Ask a friend, mentor, or career coach to review your resume.

10. The importance of a professional online presence

Nowadays, many recruiters check online presence before making a final hiring decision. Your hiring credibility strengthens when your LinkedIn profile and other professional networks coincide with your resume.

To improve your online presence:

Always maintain an updated LinkedIn profile regarding your latest experience and achievements.
Use a professional photo alongside a gripping summary.
Comment on and share posts across the industry to showcase your expertise.
Remove, delete from public view, or mark as private anything in the social media accounts that may appear unprofessional.

Conclusion

A well-written resume can make all the difference in today’s competitive job market. This article enlists expert tips on writing resumes to improve the chances of being shortlisted for any job interview. The essentials include customizing the resume for every vacancy, emphasizing achievements rather than duties, optimization for ATS, and using a clear format. These techniques will allow one to distinguish in the gluttony race course to success.

Author Bio

Sajan Prajapati is a content writer and digital marketing strategist specializing in SEO and content optimization. With over seven years of experience helping brands grow their online presence, he specializes in crafting engaging blog posts, articles, and product descriptions that resonate with readers and rank well on search engines. Sajan regularly writes for industry-leading blogs and enjoys sharing tips on content marketing and effective storytelling.

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