Int'l Update Your Resume Month: Is your resume funk’ing up your job hunt? + 5 Free Resume Tips
It's officially Fall, y'all, and per usual job hunting season is in full effect!
September is International Update Your Resume month and has been deemed as such since Y2K - the year 2000.
I was only a whopping 4 years old at the time of resumes getting their recognition month, but alas 22 years later, I am a 26-year-old professional ATS-friendly resume writer who has helped clients in various fields with securing interviews, and some client’s dream jobs over the last 2.5 years! Maybe even your next resume writer? *inserts eyes emoji* Anywhooo...
Enough about me, let’s talk about you - you’re likely a job seeker who is sick of dishing out applications and not receiving at least an interview to prove yourself or are someone curious about the importance of being proactive in updating your resume and would like free tips on how to update your resume by a resume writing professional.
Unfortunately, many job seekers have been wrongly made to believe that resumes aren’t as important as they actually are and that having something such as an Indeed resume is sufficient - it’s not.
I don’t know who does Indeed’s Marketing but the commercial of Indeed claiming “There’s no greater resume than an Indeed resume” is wild. If someone was to download an Indeed resume the likelihood is that the resume would be primarily filled with generic bullets pulled from job descriptions within Indeed’s database and or the random things you type in and is not appealing to neither the ATS nor recruiters in reality.
"What's this ATS thing you keep brining up, Lex?" Great question! An ATS is an Applicant Tracking System.
While we’re on the topic of aesthetic appeal - there are millions of sales of people buying professional design templates that designers sell via Etsy and other platforms, marketed to job seekers as a way to “stand out from the crowd.” The majority of these that I have seen are not ATS compatible in any shape, way, nor form.
So the only way you’ll “stand out from the crowd” is by not even being in the crowd of people whose resumes are viewed by the recruiters because your resume will likely be rejected immediately within the ATS or simply will go through as a bunch of jumbled up letters with sentences and sections being meshed and intertwined.
Not having an updated, ATS-friendly resume that is tailored to the field and or job role that you are seeking out can mean the difference in you securing your desired job roles, versus your application not even receiving view time from a hiring manager.
Yes, that means that even job seekers who have 30+ years of experience in their respective field(s) could literally have their resume thrown out of being considered for a role versus someone with 5 years experience should the person with 30 years have a non-ATS-compliant, poorly structured, and or poorly written resume.
5 Free Tips on Optimizing Your Resume
Omit any irrelevant information from your resume. A resume and a curriculum vitae are not the same things unless you have little to no work experience.
Poor use of fonts and colors. A resume is not meant to be cute, I’m a creative and a lover of #aestheticappeal, but LEX be real - you aren’t striving to stand out by using quirky font and non-accessible font colors. Your resume is designed to showcase your abilities and why you’re the right fit for the job.
Not ATS-friendly - ‘nuff said. Google it.
Grammar and spelling errors throughout the resume. It’s like when you’re getting to know somebody before you go on a date. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer, but if you’re spelling everything wrong or “Doing stuff like this ! !” you ain’t getting texted back. Your resume is a representative of you before you can represent yourself. Go through and make sure that things are grammatically sound; read your resume line by line and see what doesn’t seem right and rewrite it - ;) or you know you can always hire me too.
Lack of necessary details. In the same fashion that having too much information that is irrelevant can cause your resume to be overlooked? Having a resume that doesn’t have a sufficient amount of the details that the ATS and employers are seeking out is also enough to lessen your likelihood of securing an interview.
Lex's Promise: As your resume writer, I promise to build from scratch and or write and edit your current resume by tailoring it in a way that ensures that you receive interviews and that you are approaching your job search in a logical and strategic manner with ultimate confidence.
To fill out an intake form and receive your free resume evaluation and service price quote please click here. To view some of my content on resume writing please click here.