With competition for jobs so fierce these days, your resume has to stand out in order for you to have any chance of getting that new job. Most people follow the same advice when putting together a resume, so it's no surprise that most resumes look very similar and get less than spectacular results. In order for your resume to get someone's attention, it should look different. It should be a carefully written advertisement that effectively sells your skills. The help with resume writing you get from this article will get your resume noticed and help sell the reader on your skills.
The first thing you want to do differently than most people is to use some color in your resume. Most people have purely black and white resumes. A little color can go a long way in making sure your resume stands out. You should use your judgment on how much color to use. Certain industries like banking and engineering tend to be more conservative, so too much color can be negatively perceived. But industries like marketing and sales tend to like things more flashy, so more color can help.
The next thing you should do is make sure to include any special achievements or awards you have earned. These could be performance awards for one of your past job assignments or perhaps an industry award. People often don't think to mention these in a resume. It's odd that the people who have the most awards are often the least likely to include them in a resume. Perhaps they get so many awards that they see them as being common. Whether you have just a few awards or a room full of them, you should mention at least some of them in your resume. This will help the recruiter picture you as an exceptional employee if hired.
One other thing that you should make sure to do is include some positive quotes from people who think highly of your work. Most people don't put references in the resume, but including references along with what they actually said about you can really sell your qualifications. Having the actual quotes in your resume is much more convincing than just listing the names of your references because many recruiters won't take the time to check your references. A good quote from a manager, client, or industry expert will get them interested in learning more about you.
These are just a few resume writing tactics that will get your resume noticed and lead to job interviews. There are many more unconventional (guerrilla) tactics that you can use to get results. Visit
Guerrilla Resumes to find everything you need to land a new job.
