12 tips for your best resume ever

12 tips for your best resume ever12 tips for your best resume everWriting a resume is, lets face it, not always binnenseen as fun hours mulling every year of your career, searching for the right words, worrying about whether your accomplishments look impressive enough. Then you have to find the time to noodle around with it, between work, family and other commitments.Even more importantly theres no wiggle room. Recruiters spend about six seconds looking at your resume before theymake their initial decision. So, you have to make it count. (Some will go to any length to make it count One savvy job-seeker created a 20-page magazine about himself to impress the editors at GQ - maybe a little too long).There are some easy ways to do that.Make koranvers your resumeaccurately reflects who you are, what you have to offer the company you want to work for, and that its competitive enough to rival the resumes of other people with big dreams and creative minds.Your resume might be read by a com puterWhile most resume advice focuses on creating a pretty document that impresses humans, youre better off with an efficient one that impresses robots. Many large companies keep resumes in databases that are scanned for keywords and processed by algorithms before a human ever sees them.Luckily, theres a way to design the documentso it can be read by a computer.Here are the top tips for a successful digital resume.Algorithms favor the top of a resume, where experience is more relevant. Fill that area with a target job title, expert Martin Yate has said. That means taking the same job title from the job you want and finding a way to feature it on your resume.Use the same major words that are in the job description. If the job listing is for a Project Manager, make sure that you use words that show expertise in that field PRINCE2, for your certification.Make sure each entry on your resume describes hard skills that a computer will understand. Instead of motivated a team, for instance, tend to emphasize hard data grew revenues, or implemented new software or innovated a successful profit strategy. Each entry should focus on measurable performance.Go minimal. Humans and computer both appreciate this. Try to avoid all graphics, tables and fancy fonts because the system is designed to process text only, Jan Tegze, Senior Recruiting Manager at SolarWinds, saidin a LinkedIn post.If its all too much to think about, choose an ATS vorkaufsrecht on resume-template sites like Hloom.Hloom has an ATS Optimized resume templates section. That means that these templates are formatted specifically so computers can read your resume. All the Information seems like the best because even though its mostly black text, the sections and your title stand out in orange, and the font is slightly more playful than the one featured on the Technical Special template.Pickingall the right wordsA 2014 CareerBuilder survey of 2,201 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industri es and company sizes shed light on some words you should and shouldnt include on your resume.Once again, vagueness is a terrible strategy.For instance, here are a bunch oftheterms that participants chucked in the no pile best of breed, think outside of the box, go-getter, value add, detail-oriented, proactively, bottom-line and team player.Better words exist. Emphasize actions and achievements, not just personal qualities.These are some of the terms the survey participants favored instead achieved, improved, trained/mentored, managed, created, increased/decreased, negotiated, launched, under budget and won.Every wordmakes an impression, so choose each one carefully.Be wary of Google Docs resume templatesGoogle Docsoffers free templates to help guide your resume design process but this approach is more traditional, and may not leave much room for more customized resume styles.To access them, log into your Gmail account if you have one, head over to Google Docs, click on Template Gall ery, then General.As you scroll through the options, youllcurrently find resume templates like Swiss, Serif, Coral and Spearmint. Many of them have formatting and interesting fonts, which may impressive people in some industries but will stand in your way if youre aiming for that minimalist appeal that pleases both humans and robots.The best option is Coral, which includes no distracting formatting and has Skills right at the top. If youre in a field where youre sure your resume will go to a human, Serif is also a nice Google Docs option because its easy to read and the formatting isnt intrusive.Where to find other resume templates that succeedDont be afraid to branch out and use other resources when formatting your resume.Hloom offers hundreds of free templates, with categories like Basic and Simple, Clean, Modern, Contemporary, Creative and Infographic.The best of these to pick in the Clean category, the Substantial template features open, white space for your name in clear, bold type at the top and leaves space for your title and summary. The text is mostly black, but the orange adds a nice hint of color. The lines between sections of the text make it easier to read. Many other options include bells and whistles that youll like if youre applying for a visually oriented job for those, you might try one of the options in the Contemporary category or in Portfolio, which gives space to add photos of your work.One note about HloomThe Musepointed out that users should be sure to hit the Click here to download link - not the big, green, Free Download button- when downloading a template on the computer.Full disclaimer I have used a free, Hloom resume template to design an earlier version of my own resume.A note about colors- while you probably shouldnt throw handfulon your resume, be sure that if you use color in your job search, that the huealigns with your personal brand message. Colors can carry symbolism far beyond what you intend for instance, we remember a financial publication that refused to use red anywhere because the color implied money that had been lost. Only green or navy blue were acceptable.Choosing the right fontThe font you choose will also make a world of difference.Bloomberg profiled fonts to embrace and avoid on your resume.The best and most eternal advice back awayfrom Comic SansAs forTimes New Roman some discerning hiring managerssteer clearof this classic font. Its not particularly easy to read, and its so standard that it suggests you chose the laziest option. Its telegraphing that you didnt put any thought into the typeface that you selectedIts like putting on sweatpants,Brian Hoff, creative director of Brian Hoff Design, letBloombergknow how he really feels about it. (Of course ever font has its apologistsThe Washington Post begged to differ.)With all this talk of fonts to kick to the curb, which ones should you use? A lot depends on personal taste, of course, but we checked out some suggestions to see what exper ts like.Helvetica font landed at the top of Bloombergs list, with Garamond and Proxima Nova listed as other good options- although the latter could reportedly cost you a pretty penny.The Huffington Post listed Calibri as its number one, with Samantha Howie, senior human resources recruiter at the ofMaximum Management Corp., saying that the font isclear, readable, straightforward but not lacking in personality.Create a LinkedIn profileResumes are great when youre applying for jobs, but every job-hunter knows that connections matter most. LinkedIn has become the default social network for industry leaders to check up on each other, whether or not theyre currently looking. Many recruiters favor LinkedIn as a way to search for prospects, and the multiple levels of connections mean that serendipity may get your resume noticed.We like this Business Insider guide to all the different things you should do to make your LinkedIn profile stand out, including a good, professional picture and a focus on skills and even volunteer work to show that youre well-rounded. The best part? If anyone needs to see your experience in a hurry, you can just send them a link.Of course, LinkedIn isnt always the most delightful user experience, but as long as youre spiffing up your resume, you should make sure you do it right on a social network that almost anyone can access.The way you revamp your resume is ultimately up to you, but make sure its something youre proud of so you can passionately talk about your achievements if you get contacted for an interview.