8 Resume Tips To Get You The Job Of Your Dreams

At Lincoln Tech, we understand how important a résumé is to landing your dream job. Your résumé is often your first impression with a potential employer, and if it does not fit what they are looking for it can also be the last. That is why Career Services aims to help our students craft résumés, network, practice interviewing and prepare for their career search, no matter what program they are enrolled in. With a carefully crafted résumé, you can get your foot in the door and have a real conversation about your experience, your goals and how you can help the company you are applying to.

To get you started on your own, follow these eight resume tips to craft a killer résumé that is sure to catch an employer's attention.

Here are your 8 resume tips to live by:

Keep it brief.

Shakespeare accurately wrote, "Brevity is the soul of wit." In other words, keep it simple. Don't bog down your one-page résumé with extraneous words or irrelevant experience. Narrow it down to include only your strongest selling points and tailor it to the role you are seeking. Everything else can go.

Make it relevant.

Each résumé you send out will be a little different from the last. Tailor your résumé to the specific job you are applying to. Even if the job is in the same field, different companies may value different skills or traits over others. This also means that your résumé should outline your job experience before listing your education, and your work experience should only include what is most relevant to the job you are applying for.

Use technology to your advantage.

For some people, keeping a résumé to only one page feels like they are selling themselves short. If you have more to show or want to lead employers to examples of your work, link your digital résumé to a personal website that you have created as an extension of your résumé, or to other mediums that clearly demonstrate and highlight your skills. If you plan on handing an employer a hard copy, be sure to type out the URL. You can't click a link on a printed sheet of paper!

Show your metrics.

Numbers talk. Give tangible examples of things you have accomplished, such as "managed a team of 6 CNC machinists" or "increased the fuel economy of a car by 20 percent." Giving concrete examples of your work will allow the employer to see your value more clearly. These types of statistics also demonstrate that you are engaged in and proud of the work you do.

Make it easy to read.

Employers look through numerous résumés each day. If yours is hard to follow, too jumbled, or hard to read because the font is too small, or if they have to go on a hunt to find your contact info, they will most likely skip over your résumé and move on to someone else. The format should be easy for hiring managers to skim, so make sure they can find the traits they are looking for in a candidate. Keep the style simple and clean, and if you want it to stand out, add a subtle and professional design element.

Save it as a PDF.

After taking time to ensure your formatting looks good, you don't want an employer to open up a document in an incompatible format that renders it unreadable. To prevent this from happening, always save your final version of your résumé as a PDF, especially if you plan on sending your résumé via email. You should also be aware of the file name that you save your résumé under because employers will also see this and use it to find your résumé among the others saved in their folder. A combination of your last time, the position you're applying for, and the word "résumé" should do the trick.

Use keywords.

Many employers use a résumé-filtering software that scans for keywords, checking to see how closely a résumé matches the desired skills and experience listed. While not all employers use this, it is still a good practice to carefully read the job description and identify the key skills and experiences you can satisfy. Incorporating terminology and keywords from the job posting will demonstrate that you understand what they are looking for.

Proofread, proofread, proofread.

Nothing says "careless" like a typo on your résumé. Small mistakes can really hurt your credibility, especially if you point out that you are detail oriented. Let your résumé sit a day or two before reading it over again with a keen eye for spelling and punctuation. Have another person review it as well, both for their opinion on the content as well as for checking grammar and punctuation.