4 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Resume

by: Adam Beasley

Crafting a effective resume is one of the most crucial things that needs to be done when becoming a young professional in the job world. There are so many different candidates out there that will be competing for the same jobs that you are trying to get. The main purpose of the resume is to get an interview wherever you are applying and you won't be able to do this if the hiring manager looks at it and then tosses it in the pile of other unworthy resumes. Hopefully the four tips included in this post will help you make your resume worthy of a second look.

1. Craft your resume specifically to the job you are trying to obtain. 
When it comes to sending in a resume, many people will just send out their generic resume to every place they want a shot at. This is not how you want to go about your job search. Do some research on the company and get to know some of their goals are and what is important to them. Once you know a little bit about the company you can shape your resume to make it better suit their company. If you make them think that you are good at what they need then they might want to see what else you can do.

2. Be concise and have focus.
When a hiring manager is looking at your resume, he or she may spend around 30 seconds to a minute looking it over before they make a decision. You need to make sure your resume has enough focus that the manager knows what you can do in that small amount of time. If your resume is wordy or doesn't get to the point then they will lose interest.

3. Focus on what exactly you have done and just not your duties.
When setting up your resume, you need to tell the person who is hiring exactly what you did in your previous employment and how it is important. If you are just telling them what your duties were then you aren't telling them what you did in particular. You need to make them think that this is a person who gets things done. If you increased sales by a certain percent when working for a company then tell them that. Don't just leave it at "working in sales".

4. Make sure your resume is up to date and doesn't have errors.
This should be self-explanatory but you would be surprised at the number of people who have mistakes on their resume. If a hiring manager starts to read your resume and there are mistakes, they will throw it away. As for keeping it up to date, this is something that will come when you tailor the resume for the specific job that you are applying for. Ask yourself, "Why do they need you?"


Check out Career Week "The 9 to 5 Know How" at Purdue University on February 21st through the 25th. There will be many events that will help you sharpen your image and brand as a young professional. For more resume help, there will be events that focus on just that on Monday, February 21st. For more information about Career Week visit the College of Liberal Arts Career Development website at http://www.cla.purdue.edu/students/careers/