In our 10 day special: How to make 2013 your career year we’ve covered topics such as setting goals, researching possible career pathways and building a solid foundation of job skills. Today, we look at getting your CV ready for the job hunt.
You won’t get the career you want without having a strong resume and cover letter, but many of us still get it wrong.
Updating your resume should involve more than simply inserting your current job description. Show a potential employer how you can add value to the company – not just what you are responsible for in your current role.
“First and foremost, really know what you’re targeting so you can build the document in line with what the employer’s looking for,” says Gillian Kelly, career coach and brand consultant at Career Edge.
“And make sure you include your achievements. The old-fashioned resumes always used to be about accountability, but good resumes today should be talking more about what the challenges were in that role and the value that you brought in that role. That will be what will separate you from the other people – a return on investment for the employer.”
Principal of Sydney Career Coaching, Tina Monk, reminds us to keep our resumes short and snappy and to treat them like a sales document.
“When you go to buy a car you want to know what its benefits are, not just its features. What’s it going to do for you?” she says. “If you’ve got good communication skills, well, so do 10 million other people. How is that going to benefit an organisation?”
If you describe yourself as a “good communicator”, “creative” or “motivated” on your resume, you may also want to rethink your wording.
According to research conducted by LinkedIn, the most overused professional buzzwords in 2012 were: creative, motivated, responsible, experimental, effective, specialised, analytical and multinational, with “creative” being the most overused word on Australian LinkedIn profiles. To make your resume stand out, avoid using these words too often.
Homework: What you need to do today
- Make sure you stand out: Update your resume by highlighting your skills and your achievements. Show how you can add value.
- Be original: Remove any overused buzzwords from your resume and replace them with something new.
- Edit: Read over your resume at least twice and make sure it’s short and snappy and has no spelling errors, and be sure to use a font that is clear and easy to read. Ask a friend or family member to read your resume and give feedback.