Probably the hardest part of job hunting is getting past the initial stage of having your resume reviewed. On average your resume only has 7 seconds to spark the interest of a recruiter or hiring manager. Here are 12 Quick ways to spice up your resume so you get noticed!

  1. Check your spelling and grammar

Now I know that this sounds very silly and trivial but the amount of spelling and grammatical mistakes that I see in resumes every day is unbelievable. Remember your resume is the first impression that the hiring manager has of you, so make it a good one. Always remember to spell check and then I also recommend downloading a program such as Grammarly to check your Grammar. It is well worth it!

  1. Change the font of your resume

Most people use the same boring fonts such as Helvetica, Times New Roman or Arial and there is nothing wrong with this, however, if you want your resume to stand out then give something new a try.

  1. Add your LinkedIn Profile

In the personal information section of your resume (which I believe should always be at the top) add your LinkedIn Profile, this will encourage hiring managers to look at your profile and see your recommendations.

  1. Delete Irrelevant Data

No one needs to you your marital status, date of birth, religion or the number of kids you have so, take it out and use that valuable space to sell yourself.

  1. Get rid of your Resume Objective

This is a very useless part of your resume because at the end of the day your resume objective is to get a new position. A resume objective is very old fashioned and isn’t needed anymore.

  1. Check your formatting!

I don’t know about you but when I see a resume that it all over the place in regards to formatting it hurts my brain a little. Ensure that all your fonts are the same, your headers are all the same and your bullet points match, it will help you look more professional.

  1. Remove Acronyms from your resume

Unfortunately, not everyone is going to know that CPA means Certified Practicing Accountant or that RN means Registered Nurse so keep in simple and don’t use any acronyms if you really want to use the acronym then doing something like this: Registered Nurse (RN)

  1. Remove all distracting designs

Unless you are applying for a creative position, your resume does not need to be a piece of art. Keep your resume simple and fresh.

  1. Try a Resume Builder

If you really struggle with word processing systems try a resume builder which you can find online, there are hundreds upon hundreds of different options available and a good number of them are free.

  1. References

If you don’t want to put your references on your resume that is completely fine, it is your call. However, if you don’t have them on there then don’t put a reference section and have “references will be provided upon request” just leave it off. A recruiter or hiring manager will know to ask you for your references.

  1. Save your resume correctly.

Always send your resume as a PDF document, this way your formatting (that you have just fixed) won’t be ruined when someone else opens up your resume and remember to save your resume as something similar to ”Mary Smith Resume” otherwise your resume may get lost with the hundreds of other resumes that have been submitted

  1. Lastly, make sure that you are happy with your resume

At the end of the day, your resume makes your first impression so make sure that you are 100% happy with it before you send it out to potential employers.

Hopefully, these 12 tips will help you land your dream job!

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