1) Improve Readability with Bullet Points
Hiring managers take an average of six seconds to look at your resume and decide if it’s worth it to keep reading. Bullet points are a great way to cut out extra words, highlight important information and make your resume appear cleaner and easier to read.
2) Cut out the Objective
Hiring managers already know you are looking for a job, and these days objectives are unnecessary in resumes. Instead, one of the easy and creative ways to improve your resume is to create a personal branding statement that you alter based on each job you apply to. Your personal branding statement should show what you are passionate about, and the specific value you will bring to the employer. For more details, read our article Creating a Strong Resume Personal Branding Statement.
3) Avoid having a work history that reads like job descriptions
When you state your past job titles, employers already have a general idea of what duties you performed. Listing duties and responsibilities in your resume will only bore the reader. One of the easy and creative ways to improve your resume is to focus more on accomplishments instead of responsibilities. Be specific about ways you went above and beyond in past jobs, and the results that came as a result. A good example of a statement giving details about accomplishments is something like “Purposefully promoted networking events that increased the company’s client base by 30%”.
4) Cut out some details and leave more to the imagination
Preferably, it’s important to keep your resume no longer than one page (two pages at the very most if you have years and years of experience). To pique the interest of hiring managers, it also helps to leave them wanting to know more about you (which they will find out when they arrange an interview). One of the quick and easy ways to improve your resume is to cut out information such as jobs that are more than 10 years old or irrelevant to the job you are applying for, reasons you left past jobs, and your hobbies. Highlight your most important skills and accomplishments using vibrant nouns and action verbs and let the hiring manager decide what else they want to know.
5) Remove jargon the reader won’t be able to understand
It’s important to tailor your resume for each job to include industry-specific terminology that the hiring manager and applicant tracking system are looking for. But one of the creative ways to improve your resume is to take a close look and ask yourself if you have used any terminology that may not be understood in the industry you are applying to. If the hiring manager gets tripped up on any of the words or acronyms they see on your resume at first glance, there’s a good chance they will stop reading and throw it aside.