7 Resume Hacks | Land More Interviews and Get Hired Faster!

How’s your resume working out for you? Are you tired of submitting your resume and not getting calls back?

Here are a few simple ingredients that will take your resume from bland to BOOM – you’ve got an interview!

As a hiring manager, I look through hundreds of resumes on a regular basis. Here I’ll show you how I scan a resume, what stands out to me and what can be a turn off.

In today’s job market, you have 7 seconds or less to grab the attention of the hiring manager who is sorting through a stack of resumes. It may be a stack on their desk, or an email box full of applicants. The point is that you want to grab the reader’s attention quickly, and keep them engaged. As a result, you’ll land more interviews and get hired faster!

Most job seekers use resume templates to organize and format their information. They are a great resource but unfortunately, a template alone will not be the magic trick that makes your resume stand out among the competition.

1. Don’t use document headers and footers.

These do not play well with applicant tracking systems. Your name and contact information can be hidden from view, and will not import into modern hiring software.

Simply, start from the top of the document and go from there.

2. Identify yourself right away!

Under your name, add a professional title that matches your target job. Let recruiters and hiring managers know who you are right away!  Are you a Mechanical Engineer, Construction Project Manager, Registered Architect?  List this right away under your name.

Where are you located? Do you have a phone number and email address listed?

Consider adding your LinkedIn URL as well.  P.S. Don’t forget to make sure your resume matches your profile!

3. Focus on your job titles in your professional experience.

When listing your previous positions, highlight the job titles first.  You make these bold or italic to help them stand out.  Hiring managers want to see who you are and what you can do first, so make sure this stands out before anything else.  Then list the dates, company names, and locations.

List your past positions in the most recent order.

Make your dates of employment clear! Employers are looking for stable work history.

4. Give your educational experience the respect it deserves.

List the appropriate names of your degree, and be sure to include if you had a high GPA or list any academic honors. In other words, don’t just list “Bachelors”.  Bachelor of what?  Bachelor of Arts?  Okay, and what did you major in?

Employers know that good students are trainable and can learn the ropes quickly, plus they can also be very disciplined individuals.

5. Use relevant keywords.

If you were searching for someone with your skill sets, how would you search for yourself? Make sure you incorporate software and skills that are common in your field.

For more advanced information on how to optimize your resume for keywords: https://www.davron.net/tag/optimization/

6. Spelling errors show poor attention to detail.

Ask someone to take a critical eye to your resume. Spelling errors on your resume can make you appear as though you have poor attention to detail.

7. Upload your new resume to job search engines.

Recruiters are searching in Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, LinkedIn and other major career sites. Make your resume work for you. Upload your resume and let recruiters reach out to you.

Bonus Tip – Check your voicemail box settings.

After you’ve done all the work, and are ready to let your resume go to work for you.  Remember to check your voicemail box settings.  Does your voicemail have a professional greeting?  Is your mailbox full?  It would be a tragedy to have your resume in the hands of a hiring manager, and they are having difficulty reaching you.

With these simple resume hacks, we hope you are able to land more interviews and get hired faster! If you found this information helpful, please share this article.  If there are any specific topics or questions you’d like us to cover, leave us a comment below!

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