A job resume Tips
Now, a job seeker’s resume plays a critical role in getting hired/rejected for a job. 20 or more years ago, the resume also played a key role to find a job.
10 or more years forward, the resume will still play a critical role unless companies will adopt a different approach to finding a job candidate.
About myself
I worked as the senior software QA analyst(manual software testing involving lots of writing as part of a job) for a major global consulting company for 19 years. I was not in a position to scan resumes and interview people for a job. I was laid off a few years ago b/c my role moved to an offshore office. I am sharing my job-searching experience after the layoff. I still did not land the job, but I learned a lot, and I would like to share my thoughts on how to create a good resume.
What is a resume and why do you need one?
A resume is a high-level summary document written by a job seeker showing education, experience, accomplishments, and skills information.
The purpose of the resume is to show what you can do and the value you could add to your future employer.
The resume is the required document to apply for a job online since an employer’s website, recruiting agency, and all job search sites like LinkedIn require your resume in a Word or PDF format.
How do you start writing your resume?
You start with a recollection of your prior work experience and skills relevant to the job you’re applying for and the tools used.
You need to recall as many details as possible and be specific to be sure you included all the relevant points.
Your recollection will not come in one or a few sittings. It will take some time to recall key points especially if you’re constantly interrupted.
You want to write each task/project you’ve worked on a single line.
At some point, later on, you will need to review your resume to find mistakes in meaning, using wrong words, grammar, spelling, and saying the same thing more than once.
You should follow overall general good writing guidelines for correct spelling, correct grammar, and what you’re trying to say.
As you recall, you need to construct sentences that will most accurately reflect what you have done using the proper tools when applies.
You want to avoid words that sound too general, too specific, non-descriptive, everyone uses too often, and words that do not add much value.
When someone reads your resume, sentences and phrases should be precise, clear, accurate, and easy to understand.
At the same time, you don’t want to be too brief or omit important information.
What key information your resume should include?
The resume should include:
1. Your personal email, country, state, and city of your residence.
2. You should say you have legal rights to work in the country you’re applying or you’re a citizen or a permanent resident(not a requirement, but most recruiters ask if you have legal rights to work).
3. The college education and the most recent upgrades to your professional knowledge and skills.
4. Prior work experience. Do not mix this part with any other part so that a recruiter will know what you’ve actually done in your prior job(s).
5. Projects you’ve done outside of your job that should be relevant to the job you’re applying for. This is very useful for new college graduates and career changers.
6. The skills relevant to the job include personal skills and technology skills. For skills, I include a small table by category.
7. You could also split your past skills and new skills to show you’re trying to grow professionally.
You should never lie on your resume about experience/education/skills that you don’t have. You need to be honest what you put on your resume.
What resume should you create if you’ve just finished college and you do not have any work experience?
You need to include your education and any professional experience like an internship if you have one.
You want to talk about your career goals, and what you want to achieve, and you need to assure your employer that you will take responsibility for what you do.
You do not need to show if you’re a fast learner. It is generally common to take some time to learn new things well.
You will need to show you’re highly interested to grow in your career through educational achievements and getting professional experience.
What resume should you create if you’re changing careers?
As you work in your career, at some point, later on, you will end up working for another company or switching careers.
If you change careers meaning doing something different from your prior job, then you should prove to the future employer that you can do the job.
The phrase “totally different” could mean a different field, using different software tools, and having different responsibilities.
You want to start with finding job listings using a search engine like Google, based on a job title, similar to the job title you’re applying for.
Please keep in mind that job listings with the same title may not show similar requirements.
Your goal, as the job seeker, is to find common skills based on that job title.
You need to understand the required education and work experience for the job title.
Your resume should reflect what you’ve achieved that will satisfy the new job requirements.
Your resume should show your new skills, side projects like GitHub repo, and training or written articles if any.
Why your resume should be one page long?
Most recruiters and employers do not have much time to read your resume. There is a lot of information on each resume and there are too many resumes to read. People are often in a rush to find a suitable candidate as fast as possible when going through the list of resumes. No one will spend time reading every single word on your resume. Most people glance at the first page and read a few words to get an overall feeling about what you can do based on your experience.
What people read your resume?
Many companies use computer software called ATS to find keywords in your resume. Some companies are started to adopt Artificial Intelligence to scan resumes. People who physically read your resume are recruiters and hiring managers. Talent acquisition is the name for an in-house company recruiter.
How do people differentiate you from the rest of the candidates based on a resume?
The recruiter’s job is to find a job candidate that would fit the job requirements. Therefore, recruiters go through many resumes to try to find a suitable candidate. Recruiters are generally not very well versed in a job that you’re trying to apply for.
Recruiters or hiring managers look at your experience and analyze how your experience fits into a job requirement. Some companies value education as well.
Your experience should most closely resemble the experience that a job requires.
Should you be worried if you lack the experience needed for the job?
You need to understand what you’re getting yourself into or what you will be asked to do based on a job title.
This means you know expectations and what you need to do to keep the job.
If you believe that you can do the job, then go for it and apply.
If you don’t have practical on-the-job experience and you learned new skills, then you should say you learned the new skills, but you lack industry experience.
This way the employer knows what you offer. The employer will still hire you if you say things truthfully on your resume.
You need to show you can do the job well.
Your future employer will fire you the moment when your employer sees you cannot do the job you said you can do on your resume.
Many job listings differentiate between required and nice to have.
If you fit well into the required section, then you should apply.
On the other side, if you surely know you cannot do the job, then you should skip the job.
Some jobs require years of training and experience. You should have realistic expectations of what you can offer now.
How could you show on your resume if you’re a junior, mid-level, or senior candidate?
The differentiation for junior, mid-level, and senior comes down to your professional experience or what you can do.
The junior means easy, mid-level intermediate, and senior advanced experience and skills.
Based on job listings, you might get the impression that being junior, mid-level, and senior is all about your years of experience.
This is not always an accurate measure b/c a person might be doing the same tasks year after year.
What matters is what more complex tasks you can do based on what you did a few years ago or you’re doing the same job, but you do it faster, quicker, and more efficiently.
What you should say on your resume if you’ve been unemployed for a long time like a few years?
You need to include a valid reason why you have been unemployed like getting extra education, taking care of yourself or someone if applies or you moved to a different county, and you did not have legal documents to work in the new country of residence until you became a permanent resident or you needed to learn a foreign language to become proficient to be able to do the job.
Thank You for Reading,
