Hi! I’m Roberto Martinez, a Grow with Google digital coach.
Today we’re going to talk about how to create a quality resume that will help you stand out to employers,
clearly convey your experience, and get your foot in the door.
For a recruiter or hiring manager, it can be overwhelming to sift through dozens and dozens of applicants,
so they often have to review resumes really quickly...
Do you know how quickly? The average resume is reviewed for 7.4 seconds.
That’s right, your resume may only have 7.4 seconds to stand out from the stack.
And that’s why it’s important your resume is clear, easy to read, and shows why you’re a great fit for the specific position you’re applying for.
There are many different strategies for building a resume, and people will likely give you conflicting advice.
To complicate things further, certain industries may have their own standards for resumes.
But luckily, there are some standard best practices to help you get from application to interview.
An essential rule for a resume is clarity.
Always format your resume in a way that makes it easy to read and understand.
This means avoid using unusual fonts, changing colors, images, or writing in all caps.
Instead, simplify your resume to make the content as clear as possible for the person reading it.
Although you don’t want a resume looking too sparse,
make sure to leave enough white space between bullet points and sections so it’s easier on the eye.
Be sure to always spell check and proofread for any grammar mistakes, keeping an eye out for commonly misspelled words.
Also look for dates you may have forgotten to change or update, differently sized hyphens and dashes, and alignment issues.
It’s also important to structure your resume so that every bullet point is impactful.
Use more space on recent positions and skills related to the jobs you’re applying for.
Your resume should express your story in a way that will help your potential employer understand the complexity, scope, and impact of your work.
But it should also be to the point.
While certain industries are different, in general you should keep the length of your resume to 1 or 2 pages.
With each job opening you apply to, you should tailor your resume to fit that particular job.
You can do that by focusing more of your resume “real-estate” – or the space on your resume –
to hone in on your previous roles, projects, education or training that best match the role you’re applying for.
It’s also important to include keywords on your resume that you see in the job description because some companies use
“resume keyword scanners” to identify qualified candidates for hiring managers to consider.
You can also do this through your “summary” section.
This is a section at the top of your resume with 2-3 sentences that summarize your key skills and experience.
It’s best to align your summary to the role you’re applying for.
Reading the summary section should excite a recruiter or hiring manager to read the rest of your resume.
This attention to detail will indicate that you truly want to work at this company,
and that you’re not just someone who’s mass-applying to hundreds of jobs and companies... even if you are.
So now, let's talk about the overall structure of your resume.
The top of your resume should always feature your name and contact information.
Below that, you can include your summary section.
After that, you can list your work experience.
For each role in your work experience section, list your employer, position, and dates employed, telling the story of each job with bullet points.
Use your bullet points to draw parallels between your work experience and the requirements of the job you’re applying to.
You don’t need to list everything.
Don’t be afraid to reduce the jobs on your resume that are not relevant to the one you’re applying for, if needed.
Your work experience list does not need to be completely exhaustive...
It needs to highlight the skills and accomplishments that are relevant to the job or type of roles you’re applying for.
If you need to account for a gap in your work history,
listing volunteer work or taking courses can be a great way to show that you were active and developing your skills,
even if you weren’t employed.
While work experience will likely make up most of your resume, it’s also good to include sections for education, activities, honors, and personal interests, too.
As hard as you work to get all your info on one page,
make sure you’re also representing your work consistently online and elsewhere.
Hiring managers and recruiters often use sites like LinkedIn to identify candidates for specific job openings,
so make sure your resume and online profile don’t conflict with one another.
While you may be sharing different versions of your resume with different employers,
the basic timeline and dates of your work experience should be consistent.
Google offers a series of helpful tools for creating, editing, and sharing your resume.
See the sample resume and resume template document linked in the description of this video to help you get started creating a new resume,
or reformatting your existing one.
Now that we know the importance and structure of a quality resume,
let's take a moment to review the key takeaways so you can feel confident in your next steps.
Clarity is essential, so format your resume so it is easy to read and understand.
Be sure to proofread your resume for spelling and grammar mistakes.
Always add quantifiable data to your bullet points to make them as impactful as possible.
Be sure to customize your resume to fit a particular job.
Ensure the overall structure of your resume is well-organized and continues to showcase who you are.
Always represent your work consistently online and elsewhere.
And be sure to take advantage of Google’s many helpful tools for creating, editing, and sharing your resume.
Thank you so much for tuning in!
To continue growing your skills and career, be sure to tune in to our other videos and subscribe to our channel!
You can also access free resources, virtual workshops, Google Career Certificates, and more at our Grow with Google website.
See you next time!