A resume’s purpose
The purpose of a resume is to help an employer assess if you are the right fit for their organisation.
This may seem obvious but when we break down a resume more often than not it becomes apparent that a resume has been built around that person and the skills and experience they are most proud of. Whilst this has undoubted value to the individual who owns the resume and rightly so celebrates their achievements, sometimes this does not translate into an employer considering that person to be the right fit for their organisation.
With this in mind we can begin to formulate an approach to the employers in the industry or industries that we would like to work in.
What to include
The resume needs to clearly identify the skills, abilities and experience you are offering in one document. It needs to be interesting, relevant to the industry you are applying for and must contain the right key words for the position description being applied for.
Before writing your resume, firstly you’ll need to gather some information about yourself. This will include all the written information you have on courses attended, education, voluntary work, work history, written references and any academic transcripts. You may not use all of this information in the final draft of your resume but it will help you identify experiences and relevant skills and qualities you will be offering your new employer.
How we will help
When you and your Rehabilitation Consultant feel you are ready, the Incite Solutions Group employment services team will help you prepare your resume from the information provided and together we will create a document that is targeted to the employers and industries that we all agree are the right fit for you.
If you would like a template to guide your information gathering you can click HERE to access a handy resume gathering check sheet.
For further information regarding resume’s please look at our Resume Preparation Toolkit
Eliminating common resume mistakes that make prospective employers think twice.
When you’re an active job seeker, it can sometimes feel like your endless applications are disappearing into a digital void, never to be read by a prospective employer (and much less one who will offer you a position). While this can certainly be discouraging, new research suggests that the lack of response may lie in common resume mistakes that send your application to the bottom of the recruitment pile. To enhance your chance of success in the job hunt, here are five common resume mistakes that make prospective employers cringe — and how to avoid them.
The Devil is in the Details
In a survey of over 350 recruiters, hiring managers and human resources executives, spelling and grammatical errors were identified as the number one factor in whether or not a resume made the shortlist. It may sound obvious — especially with the plethora of in-built and online tools designed to eliminate them — but spelling and grammatical errors are still all too pervasive in job applications. One of the most common forms of mistakes are in the misuse of words: ‘principle and principal’, ‘affect and effect’, ‘they’re and their’, ‘its and it’s’, etc. If you’re unsure, ask a qualified friend to run over your resume with a fresh set of eyes, or use an online tool like Grammarly to eliminate these common resume mistakes.
Skills, not Thrills
While your love of home cooking or weekend hiking might seem like a valuable asset to a potential employer, including outdated, irrelevant or unprofessional content in your resume may be limiting your chances of success. Hobbies, headshots and even an unprofessional email address were all identified by prospective employers as resume deal-breakers, all pointing to one thing: The most important piece of information to include is why you’re qualified for a particular role. If you do want to bring something personal to your application, be sure that it’s relevant to the job or industry in some way. Present yourself professionally first, personally second.
All Design, no Detail
Unless you’re a graphic designer, photographer or someone applying for a visually-creative role, don’t let design stand in the way of a clear rationale for why you are the best fit for a position. Elaborate formatting and design were identified by 28 percent of prospective employers as a deterrent when assessing resumes, which means your fancy InDesign skills are not fooling anyone. The bottom line is that design should always be secondary to detail. Before you start polishing up your resume’s visuals, make sure that the cornerstone content is the real standout of your application.
Customise to the Criteria
When you’re applying to numerous positions, taking the time to customize your resume to a specific role can be time consuming. Nevertheless, over 30 percent of employers surveyed, identified overly-generalized skills and experience as a common downfall of resumes. Before submitting an application, take time to review the selection criteria and how your professional experiences can be tailored to address them. Avoid obvious ‘keyword stuffing’ (another reason your resume might be overlooked) and instead focus on giving specific examples that demonstrate your ability to manage the role. Remember, no resume should ever be the same across two different job applications.
Are your contact details correct?
If you’ve taken the time to polish your resume until it shines, the last thing you want to fall victim to is not giving an employer the correct information to contact you with! Perhaps the most surprising finding from recent surveys is that 52 percent of employers listed incorrect or missing contact details as a common resume mistake. Before hitting that ‘send’ button, be sure to triple-check your email, phone number and other important contact information. You never know — you might have been sitting at No. 1 in the recruitment pile, only to have their welcoming email bounce back with ‘return to sender’.
Please find a list of sample templates for your reference below, we would strongly encourage you to create your own unique resume but you can certainly use one of these if you get stuck or would like some inspiration!
If you would like to discuss your resume and supporting documents in more detail please approach your rehabilitation consultant or a member of the employment services team (Dan or Sally) and we would be happy to assist you.