Resume Guidelines for Grabbing Your Reader’s Attention

As you review the requirements for your target position, your confidence grows. You know that you have what it takes to thrive in this position. You’ve done similar work in the past, you have the right educational credentials, and you know how to navigate the culture of this workplace and this industry. You have everything you need, but how can you make this clear to your reviewers and potential employers? Before you can lay out the facts, you’ll need to convince your readers to tune in and pay attention to what you have to say. Here are a few simple ways to grab and hold the attention you deserve.

Table Of Contents

Invest in Your Summary

Spend more time on your summary section than any other part of your resume, and make sure this section is as close to perfect as you can make it. This section carries more weight than most job seekers realize; in fact, some managers read only the summary section before scheduling an interview or moving on to the next resume in the stack.

Keep It Tight

Don’t waste your reader’s time or the space on the page. Keep your message as lean and tight as possible. Read through your entire document several times with one goal in mind: removing as many words and phrases as you can. Start by eliminating empty descriptors and buzzwords, then go back and delete non-specific claims. Then attack your adverbs. Get rid of any statement that seems obvious or does nothing to help set you apart from the crowd.

Offer Something Extra

What makes a candidate truly exciting to a potential employer? The answer lies in one word: overlap. Your employers need an account manager with a business degree and a local address, but they’d also like a candidate with specific software skills, international work experience, and a track record of sales leadership. If you can offer just one or two of these, you’ll be in the race. But if you can offer several of them, you’ll leave your competition behind. Make your resume even more attention-grabbing by taking advantage of our our resume builder.