If you’re looking for a new job in 2023, you need a resume that is going to impress recruiters and grab their attention.
This might sound pretty straightforward, but with job growth expected to slow next year, you must do all you can to beat out the competition.
So, how do you go about crafting an impressive resume?
Well, it’s important that you stay up to date on the latest industry trends and adjust your resume accordingly. It’s also important to ensure you’ve added these five key elements to your resume.
Keywords
After receiving a resume, the average hiring professional will spend just six to eight seconds scanning through it to determine whether or not the candidate is right for the role.
Therefore, it is your job to ensure they can quickly and easily find the information they need and determine if you tick all the right boxes. The structure and format will play a big role in this, but keywords are the quickest and most effective way for you to prove you’ve got what it takes.
Not only this, but as recruiters increasingly rely on Application Tracking Systems (ATS) to help them manage the hiring process, you need to make sure your resume is ATS-friendly. This means you need to optimize your resume with the right keywords to get it past the bots.
Links to social media
When it comes to inviting candidates in for an interview, the majority of employers no longer rely on a resume alone. In fact, 90% say they find social media important when evaluating a candidate.
This means that by including any relevant social media links on your resume, you invite them to find out more about you.
For example, you might wish to include the details of your LinkedIn and Instagram accounts alongside your contact information. Just make sure that whichever profiles you link to, you ensure these are up to date and that they don’t contain any inappropriate or unprofessional content.
If you have a side hustle or profile related to your passions and hobbies, it might be better to link to those accounts rather than simply give your personal accounts.
More bullet points
It’s long been understood that bullet points are a helpful way to format information on a resume and make it easier for the recruiter to read and digest. However, one or two vague bullet points aren’t going to cut it in 2023.
Instead, you need to make better use of more bullet points in your experience section, ideally including between four to five points that showcase your skill set.
You should also use these bullet points to quantify your most relevant and impressive achievements related to each role.
Career accomplishments
As well as showing off your key skills, you want your resume to highlight your value. Quantifying your achievements in relation to your top skills is one way to do this, but it’s also a good idea to show off what makes you truly unique.
In order to do this, you should add any awards, certificates, or other accolades from previous employers that show why you were a valued employee. For example, were you voted ‘employee of the month’ on more than one occasion?
Perhaps you were the highest-earning sales professional the organization has ever seen. Or maybe you were nominated (and won) industry awards for your company?
Whatever the case may be, you need to treat your resume as a chance to showcase what it is that makes you so great without simply proving that you’ve got the skills to do the job.
Your passion
Of course, you need to show that you’re passionate about your industry on your resume, but in 2023 you need to take this one step further. You need to show that you’re a passionate professional on all levels.
After all, employers want candidates that are going to be creative, proactive, and ready to give their all.
As well as highlighting your accomplishments, it’s important to give details of your passion projects, especially if you have a side hustle relevant to the role you’re applying for.
If you have space on your resume, you could also give details of your hobbies and interests and how these influence your career. Just make sure these are relevant and can help to showcase your skills further.
By adding these five important elements to your resume, you can increase your chances of being invited in for an interview. Just remember to take your time and carefully craft your application, outlining your top achievements and results and using keywords where relevant.