Creating a Stellar Resume

Given the depth of this information, we have compiled a list of helpful websites and resources to help you develop your resume. This article will help outline the significant aspects of creating your resume, how and why you should tailor it to specific audiences, and the Do’s and Don’t to creating an attention-getting resume.

Getting Around ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)

You may think that writing a resume is to impress a potential employer, highlight your talents and strengths, and convince them that you are the right person for the job. If that is you, sorry to say, you’re wrong. According to Ashely Stahl’s article, ‘How To Write A Competitive Resume in 2021‘, only about 25% of all resumes are made through an AI (artificial intelligence) algorithm to an HR Professional or hiring manager.

So what is an Applicant Tracking System or ATS? An ATS is a feature within HR Systems that allows HR Professionals to solicit, cultivate, screen, and manage all hiring activities for an organization. You may have already been working in a few during your job search. Suppose you are directed to go to an employer’s career site, fill out an online application, submit your resume, and select one or more potential postings within their organization. In that case, you are probably interacting with the candidate functions of their ATS.

But what happens within the ATS is the pivotal part of whether you get a call for an interview or even considered for a position.

Before the HR Professional even sees your resume, the ATS algorithm filters your resume on keywords or phrases within your resume that match both the job description and the characteristics of the position.

I separate these two perspectives as some ATS systems will pull in industry standard (or at least a commercial library) of standard job positions to compare against the market in terms of compensation. That is one set of descriptors for the work. While salary is addressed later in the hiring process, the position title and general description are used to maintain consistency with the actual job description so that when compensation is discussed or introduced, companies can help ensure a competitive package for what they are offering. So, how you structure and edit your resume is critical in getting through the AI traps.

Note the above ATS structure is mainly used in larger companies with more regulation and international compliance to maintain their hiring practices. Larger companies use this structure to ensure consistent wages and compensation across all positions within the company. However, most will still use keyword algorithms to filter down resumes, so the principles of organizing your resume to handle keywords are the same. According to Stahl, 90% of today’s companies use an ATS system.

It is important to remember before your resume ever hits the eyes of an actual human being, it has to first pass through the ATS, which will filter it on keywords and other relevant information. Therefore, creating an ATS-compatible resume is crucial. Please keep in mind that the purpose of the resume is to open the door to get an interview. It is at the interview that you highlight your skills and talents. We’ll talk about interviewing in a future post.

Do’s and Don’ts of Crafting Your Resume

Now that you have a good understanding of who and what your resume audience is let’s go over some fundamental techniques to keep in mind when creating your resume:

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1. DO Keep it brief. You should have at most two pages to your resume. You don’t have to write a novel about everything you did in your previous positions. One or two concise sentences will be plenty.
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2. DO Check Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation – Not only will these things affect your resume making it through an ATS system, but it is also a turn-off to an actual hiring manager if they find obvious spelling and grammar mistakes. It demonstrates you need better attention to detail and a better work ethic. Using an online system like Gramarly.com can help eliminate these types of errors.
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3. DO Keep It Organized – The resume should have key sections labeled and highlighted, making it easy to read. Forcing managers to need more time to hunt for information may lead to abandoning a summary they find challenging to read.
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4. DO Use an Online Resume Scanner – You can use many online services to scan your resume and ensure keywords. Other essential information is formatted in your resume to make it compatible with an ATS and for a human reader. Please review our resume resources link below for links to some of these online tools.
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5. DO Create a Cover Letter – Be sure you have a matching cover letter for your resume specific to the job posting.
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6. DO Research The Position – Let’s say you are looking for a supervisor position in a retail business. You will want to research and look at related fields and compare the skills and general requirements for the job. Understanding how recruiters and hiring managers describe these positions can help you get a head start in preparing your resume.
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7. DO Use a Template – You can use some online resources to pull down and use a resume template to get started. However, you will want to ensure that it is ATS-friendly. For helpful tips on maximizing your resume’s format, we highly recommend The Muse for more information.
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8. Don’t Submit in MS Word or Google Docs Format – Unless specifically requested to submit in another form, always submit your resume in a PDF format.
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9. DON’T Craft Just ONE Resume – Once you have researched the desired position you are applying for, you will want to have one or two alternative resumes available for closely related jobs. For example, when seeking a manager position, have a variation resume for Sr. Manager and Director. This strategy is necessary because organizational hierarchies vary from business to business. You will want summaries that you can deploy quickly with little editing required. You want to maintain the core information (job history, education, etc.) to reflect accurate background skills. Still, you will target resumes to meet the potential scanning requirements of the specific company’s ATS system.
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10. DON’T Include References – Please read through this one carefully. Generally, you will provide references after an initial interview. Providing them within your resume could cause recruiters to be biased toward you before interviewing you. To avoid this, you state “References Upon Request” at the end of your resume. You should have a prepared, separate page with between 3 – 5 references available when you go in for an interview. Rarely do employers ask for references before interviewing, but it can happen. You only provide your list of contacts in those cases where references are specifically requested as part of the application process. Otherwise, keep it until you have had at least one interview with the employer.

Major Sections Of A Resume

You will want to include the following major sections in your resume. While some of these sections may vary depending on the job level you are applying for, these are generally the most common. We also recommend reviewing the blog post at ResumeGenius.com as it has a great breakdown of all aspects of a resume:

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• Contact Section – At a minimum, you will want to include: first name, last name, professional email address, LinkedIn address, and a good contact phone number. A professional email address would be typically a personal email, but one representing your professional side. Suppose you use a more casual email address like “JabberJaw123@mydomain.com”. In that case, you might consider making that more specific to you, like “John.smith@mydomain.com” or something more equivalent.
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  Also, you could include a link to your bio landing page if you have one. Ensure you include it in your contact section, mainly if you apply for a graphics design or equivalent career. Employers like to see some samples of your work.
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• Resume Introduction – If you are applying for a position related to your past career achievements, a brief statement of your accomplishments and skills relative to the posting will go into this section. If you have limited experience, you can create a message describing your motivation to apply for the position.
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• Work Experience Section – Avoid telling your life story in each of your former career positions; keep it simple. All you need is the company name and location (address) of your previous employment, your title, dates of work, and no more then three to four bullet points of your primary responsibilities and achievements.
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  Remember, you can expand on your experiences when you get an interview.
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• Skills Section – You will want to include a mix of soft and hard skills presented in a bulleted or keyword list. Look at the job description in the posting to ensure the EXACT skill phrasing. For example, if you have ‘Microsoft Office Skills,’ but the job posting states ‘Microsoft Office Suite,’ change it to match so the ATS has a better chance of picking it up.
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  For clarification, if you are unsure about the definition of hard and soft skills, keep the following in mind. Hard skills are those typically required for the physical aspects of the job, such as specific technical training and experience with a tool, language, or software/hardware. Soft skills involve relationships, communication, leadership, creativity, and teamwork.
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• Education Section – This section should include the highest level of education achieved. You don’t need to include your high school degree information if you have completed an undergraduate degree. Suppose you have a Master’s Degree but an undergraduate degree in a different discipline. In that case, you should include both for relevance.
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  You should include: Name of the school, location, type of degree and field of study, year of graduation, and GPA. (ONLY if it is 3.5 or higher.)​
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• Optional Sections – When evaluating your resume, these sections can show recruiters and hiring managers more about you and your character if you have limited job experience. Important:** If you have several years of experience in a field and are not planning to change, be careful adding these to your resume as it could make it longer than is necessary:**
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• Training Certifications and Licenses – You will want to include these, especially if they are required for the position or have some relevance to the post you are seeking.
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• Language – Important if you are bilingual and could be an added consideration.
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• Projects – Depending on the career field, highlight a portfolio of work. If you have little job experience, highlighting college to other related academic projects relative to your desired position could help boost your consideration.
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• Volunteer work – This section is an excellent way to highlight some hard and soft skills.
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• Extracurricular Activities – Things like Dean’s List, Student Council, Clubs, etc., are good ways to show leadership, teamwork, and other soft skills that impress a potential employer.
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• Publications – This can be incredibly impactful if you enter any field where publication is essential. However, suppose you have published a book, editorial, trade magazine article, or other public pieces on a topic relative to your hiring position and feel it highlights your knowledge and talents. Adding a link and a brief one-line summary in your resume may be an excellent choice.
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• Hobbies and Coursework – Adding relative coursework or hobbies to your resume may be good if you are still working through a degree or other trade certification. For example, if you are seeking a job as a technical soundboard operator and have worked on your own equipment or have a side gig working on related equipment, stating that in your resume could help.
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• Fraternity and Sororities – These demonstrate leadership, volunteerism, philanthropy, and other skills employers seek in a candidate.

Again, we recommend checking our ResumeGenius for more details on these sections.

Resume Resources

We have created a specific website at Smartworkscafe.com dedicated to resume writing. It has a complete list of resources, from resume scanners, editors, grammar and spellcheckers, storage, organizational tools, writing tips and tricks, and more.

This page is often updated so you can check for the latest and most excellent tools and resources to help your job search. In addition, we have opened a forum for you to add your favorite sites and valuable tips to help others who may be struggling in crafting their perfect resume.

You can check it out at https://smartworkscafe.com/home/resume-resources/