Resume Habits Your Mom Used That Just Don’t Matter Anymore

There is no exact science when it comes to resume writing. The truth is, there is no right way because no hiring manager cares if you have an objective at the top of your sheet of paper, they care whether or not you can get the job done. Regardless of what the people around you say is their magic resume method, here are some tips to help in your job search:

Stop Making Your Resume Over a Page Long

Hiring Managers will literally only scan your resume for about 6 seconds. That means by the time they get to your experience and education on the second page - they haven’t - because they’ve already tossed it into the rejection pile.

Make sure you tailor your resume to each job and put your qualifications at the top (it’s actually more important than your education. Unless you’re a doctor - then we can make an exception).

Take out the stuff that just doesn’t matter. Honestly, if you put everything about yourself in your resume are you leaving anything for the interview? Remember when your mother told you to give just enough for them to want to know more but don’t give them the whole pie? Use that same mentality with your resume and you’ll have them begging you to know more.

Don’t Just Tell Them Your Hard Skills, Make Sure Your Soft Skills Are There Too

Hiring Managers and businesses, in general, would love to know that you have experience in their field - it means less training once you’re hired. However, they also want to know that you have the other skills that many don’t necessarily learn from education and previous jobs. Soft skills are becoming more important - those skills such as emotional intelligence and cross-cultural abilities.

Describe those extra skills you learned from your jobs, such as being able to handle stressful situations, not just that you know how to use Microsoft Word (that’s pretty obvious if you’ve been to high school in the past 20 years).

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When all else fails, throw resume rules out the window and be true to your creative self. Some amazing ideas have made candidates stand out among the rest and get them the job.

Don’t be a cookie-cutter - be the Chuck Norris of resumes!