By Karen Proctor

When searching for a job, you are competing against hundreds of other people who may be just as qualified.  No matter how good you are, you can’t show anyone unless you get the interview.  Here are a few tips on how to make sure your résumé is at the top of the pile.

Tailor your résumé to the job.  
There are a lot of people who apply for jobs that they are not qualified for.  Recruiters will scan résumés looking for key words or phrases that match the job that they are trying to fill.  When applying for a job, read through the job description carefully and make sure that you highlight skills or work that you have done that reflect what the position is looking for.

Formatting is Key 
Recruiters receive so many résumés; they do not have time to read through every detail.  In order to make your résumé more appealing – try these tips:

• Use bullets:  Highlight your accomplishments and skills through bullet points instead of paragraphs. Also make key information bold so it can stand out.
• Do not include personal information:  Recruiters don’t need to know your height, hair color and how many children you have – it is not relevant to the job!
• Condense excess information:  If you are applying for a Marketing Manager position, you don’t need to list 5 bullet points on your work as a Sales Associate back in 1998.  Do not omit it all together because you want to show a steady work history, but condense it to a brief sentence.
• Keep it short: Recruiters don’t want to read a book – try to keep your résumé to 1 – 2 pages.

Be Professional

Keep your résumé up to date and proofread for errors and misspelled words.  I have known several managers that will not interview a candidate based on grammatical errors and misspelled words on a résumé.  The quality of your résumé reflects the quality of the work you will produce on the job.

Make sure all of your contact information is on the résumé and that it is correct.  You would not believe how many résumés I receive that do not have contact information!  This includes phone numbers and e-mail address.  Make sure voicemail messages are professional.  A recruiter cannot take you seriously if you have an inappropriate voicemail message when they are trying to contact you.  Many recruiters will send e-mails instead of calling for initial contact.  Make sure you create a professional e-mail address for job related correspondence.  Appropriate: jane.doe@email.com – Not appropriate: sexychica@email.com  

Keeping these tips in mind when creating your résumé will get you one step closer to getting the interview.  Remember, your résumé is your first impression – make it a good one!