How to Write a Standout Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide

A resume is your ticket to that coveted job interview. It allows you to showcase your skills, experience, and potential in front of employers. The hard part is writing a stand-out resume. This is where we come in with the process of creating an effective resume that will surely attract the attention of hiring managers.

1. Start with a Strong Header

Your resume’s heading is what an employer would see first. In other words, keep it simple and professional. Use a bold, bigger-sized lettering for your full name. Followed by your contact information: email, phone number, and LinkedIn profile, if available. It should be easy to update your contact information, but do not include home addresses.

Example

John Doe 
Email: johndoe@example.com
Phone: (555) 123-4567  LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johndoe

This clean, simple header gives the employer everything they need to reach you straight away.

*2. Craft a Compelling Summary or Objective

Then there’s the short summary or objective statement based on what you have on your resume. This is to give an employer a view of who you are and what you bring into a place. A summary includes your key strengths, whereas an objective more states your needs in your next role.

Example: If you’re an experienced marketing professional, this may be something like:

Experienced marketing person with more than 5 years of revenue growth driving. Advanced skills in digital marketing, SEO, and content strategy. Looking for new challenges in a dynamic marketing team.*

This is a set of sample answers to an objective statement that may be:

“Looking for a marketing manager position in a fast-moving company where I would utilize my digital marketing skills and drive brand growth.”*

Ensure that your statement applies to the position in which you are applying. This will eventually show potential employers that you seriously considered the application.

3. Relevance of Skills

Now enumerate the most relevant skills to the job which may include hard or technical/industrial knowledge, and soft skills like communication or teamwork. Match these against the description of the job so that you point out to the employer the qualities he values most.

For example, if you are applying for a software development job, the skills may include the following:

Programming languages
SDLC
Problem-solving

This is brief and also effective. Use bulleted points and highlight your strength.

4. Highlight Your Experience

The experience section in a resume is likely the most important. Here you will list work history in reverse chronological order of the most recent position first. For each job, don’t forget to write in your job title, company name, dates of employment, and a bullet point list of your greatest accomplishments and responsibilities.

Make sure to include specific numbers when possible. Numbers are very compelling evidence of what you accomplished and will really make you stand apart from many other applicants.

Example:

Marketing Manager, XYZ Corp. (2019-Present)
• Successfully managed a digital marketing campaign leading a team of 5 for an organization that raised sales by 30%.
Managed a marketing budget of $200,000. Provided optimized control of spend to reduce costs by 15%.

Highlighting measurable results will also show what you have accomplished with previous companies.

5. Education and Certifications

Your education section will be your most relevant academic qualifications. Start from the highest level of education and include the degree, school name, and date of graduation. In case you have certifications related to the position available, put them here too.

Example:

Bachelor of Science in Marketing, University of XYZ (2018)
Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP)

List other relevant training or courses you have taken. This demonstrates how you have built your capabilities towards this particular position.

6. Tailor Your Resume for Every Job

It’s not going to be the most spectacular resume. That is because an application needs to be a customized version for each job. Read and understand the posting of the job carefully, focusing on how your skills and experiences can answer the need of the employer. Tailor your summary and your skills with what will best qualify you for applying for the position.

For instance, in a job that requires highly developed project management, highlight your experience as a team leader or project manager. If technical aptitude characterizes the position, then let your technical skills and certifications to speak for you.

Tailoring your resume to every job application raises your chances to catch an eye of that recruiter.

7. Your Resume Should be Brief and Easy to Read

Employers obviously do not have time to read long documents with dozens of resumes for each opening. It pays to keep resumes concise: one page is the limit for experience levels below 10 years. If you’ve had more than a decade in your line of work, it’s still acceptable to fill two pages.

Use bullet points so that scanning is easier to do while avoiding large blocks of text. Choose a clean lay-out of professionalism with consistent fonts and spacing. Your resume must be pleasing to the eyes, easy on the eyes to scan, as well as easy to navigate.

8. Proofread and Edit

Before you submit your resume, proofread it carefully for spelling, grammar, and formatting errors. You never know what you made, but mistakes can make you appear sloppy and ruin your opportunities. Go over your resume several times. Then, have a friend or classmate read it.

Your resume should be free of typos and include correct information. An elegant, error-free resume reflects that you pay attention to details.

9. Add the Optional Sections

Depending on your experience and the position you are applying for, you may want to add additional sections. These might include:

Volunteer Experience: In case it has a bearing on the job or you have extensive volunteer work, you might want to include this.
Languages: List if you know more than one language.
Awards and Honors: If you’ve received professional awards, list them.
Publications: List articles or research you’ve published.

The above-mentioned additional sections can be included to make your resume unique, highlighting even more strengths that will make you a more competitive candidate.

Conclusion

The process of writing a resume is overwhelming, but if you follow these steps, you’ll be writing a clear, concise, and effective resume that will help you stand out through your qualifications. First, ensure your header is powerful, your summary interesting, focused on the experience and skills that would apply to the position in question, and then show them how you can tailor your resume to each job. Keep it concise, proofread it, and then submit it. With some time and effort, you’ll be crafting a resume to get you your next opportunity.