Writing a Bulletproof Resumé – part II.

Nowadays, graphic design is accessible to everyone, and everything you need can be done within hours. Everybody with only basic knowledge can create a flier, business card, instagram post or a good looking resume!  But there are still some rules to follow.

Adjusting Resume to Applied Position

We all have so much to give. But we all also have a certain comfort zone and limit. On the way to a dream career we need to flex our minds a little. We don’t necessarily have to do something we can’t stand, but being flexible and being able to adjust to our surroundings can be the key to success. When applying for a few different positions, even though they might seem similar, always refresh your resume by targeting the needs of the position/company.

Analyze the company enough for you to understand what skills you need to show them. Sometimes we gain experience in our life that shaped us, but it’s not necessarily laying in our future.

 For example, working in an ice cream shop was interesting and certainly gave us a perspective on how hard it is to work in service and deal with customers, it probably made us more understanding and patient, but it’s probably not going to be the career path we chose, because we graduated from medicine.We may use the skill of being patient, but the fact you gained it in your ice cream job, is not important in your resume. 

How and where to start adjusting

Before you do any adjustments, make sure you know the company, their values, targets and what they are looking for. Then adjust your resume accordingly.

Delete or move lower information that isn’t relevant or important for this position and move up sections or information that aligns with the company’s requirements. In a section where you are describing yourself, point out the skills and strengths needed for the position.

For example, applying for an immigration law office can have different requirements than a house associates law office. You may be bright and experienced in both, which is great,  but bring your immigration law knowledge up to the front and your other experience as a secondary information, lower in the resume. 

Prioritizing 

Highlight what’s important for the position and put in the shadow what is not or don’t even include it. Only give them what they need, if you have it. If you don’t have it, always bring up your other strengths you think could be beneficial for the job.

It’s not necessary to say I am hard working, on time, a team player, great at finishing projects, because that’s expected from you to be in any position in any job and in any career in order to be successful.

Rather bring up your unique personality traits such as creativity, management skills, your own perspectives and opinions. Besides, nobody would say in their resume about their passion for sleeping in or lack of being responsible. Everybody wants to look good on paper, but those are qualities easy to tell in your interview anyways. 

Perspective of an HR professional 

We want you to have a deep understanding of this. Just like in life, you need empathy to look at situations from a different perspective, we thought, looking at your resume from an HR agent angle, could give you another, new experience.

An HR in action – interview with a law firm HR: We spoke with a seasoned hiring administrator in a California local law firm, and this is what they like to see in their work field.

• Which resume stands out of the crowd most?

“For me, it is important to receive a customized cover letter because it shows that they took the time to look up important information on our company. You can usually find a good writing example in that cover letter which tells you a lot.”

• When you receive a resume, what information are you looking for first?

“I like to receive resumes where the information is easy to find on one page. Rarely does anyone need more than one page.  A simple and easy to read resume will always get my attention.”

• When reading a resume, what information has no weight for you? Therefore doesn’t even have to be included.

“Depending on the position, I usually don’t need a work history of more than 20 years. I don’t need to know anyone’s hobbies or free time activities either.”

• When looking at resumes, which pictures and graphics are most acceptable and which go straight to a “no” folder?

“In my opinion, there are no pictures or graphics needed for a job, but that is just for my law firm purposes. Too many charts and graphics can be confusing and if it takes too long to find the information I will usually pass on that resume. Simple and easy to read is what gets my attention.”

• So even a professional headshot on the resume doesn’t really matter to you?

“I highly discourage headshots or any pictures really, too many discrimination issues that can apply.             Again, this is from a law firm perspective. Maybe headshots are important in another field of work, but not  for mine.  And again, my responses are based on my field of work.”

• How can you tell this person is a right fit, just by looking at the resume, before even interviewing the person yet?

“I don’t think you could know if the person is a right fit just by looking at a resume, but I usually don’t respond to resumes that does not contain the information that I asked for in my job post.  It is very important to pay attention to what information needs to be included in the resume.  If the information asked for is included, even if it doesn’t fit with our needs, I would still invite that person to interview.  It shows they paid attention.”

Successful LinkedIn Profile 

Linkedin is one of the biggest professional social networking sites and a platform for job hunting. To make sure you are on the successful path, we summarized a few bullet points to arm your Linked in profile as well. Also, because now you know to include it in your resume, right… 🙂

Recommendations by a Linkedin expert Petr Schwank  

• Think about impressing your future employer while creating your profile 

Motivational quotes or random certificates aren’t gonna do the thing nowadays. People want to know your values, vision and expertise. What you are good or unique at. In your profile make sure to really use the tool “info” to target these points. Then, apply the same mindset in describing your past working positions. 

• Professional headshots and working moments

On your profile and timeline picture it should be obvious you spend some time on it. Profile picture should be a portrait where you can clearly see your face and where you smile. Professional headshot is probably the best kind.  Make sure your picture has enough light and it isn’t too dark. For your timeline picture choose a photograph describing the activity or profession you are currently doing. Maybe a moment from a conference, training or another event from your professional life. Vacation or family pictures aren’t too relevant in this case. 

• Connect with people relevant to your profession

Quality over quantity is a value linkedin is based on. Try to look up people who are beneficial for your career. For example employees from a company where you are applying for a job.

• Engage emotions in expressing your “motto” section

Photograph and a motto is the first thing that everyone sees when they enter your profile. That’s why putting together the right words straight up hitting the point you are trying to make is important. Stay authentic, emotionally grounded and express exactly what you think is your biggest strength and belief and how you can benefit the company you are trying to impress. 

We hope you enjoyed this resume writing guide and it’s a helpful source for you! If there is something we missed, let us please know. Team of LIGS University wishes you a lot of good luck in finding the right job.

Author: Nicole Kleinova