New Year, New Resume

If “find a new job” tops your resolution list in 2014, then your first step should be to ensure you have the right resume in place. As one of the leading recruiting agencies in Houston, Murray Resources knows your resume is your ticket into the interviewing process. To help you polish yours, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Consider each position.

It’s easy to just create one resume for every job opening; but when you do, you’re losing out on an opportunity to set yourself apart. Instead, before you apply for a certain position, identify and list the key requirements the employer is looking for. These should be readily available via the job posting.

Consider how your experience matches up.

Once you have a list going of the main requirements for a job opening, consider your career and background – and how it matches up to the requirements.You want to make the hiring manager’s job easy so when they look at your resume, they can quickly see what a great fit you are for the position.

Again, that’s why you must tailor your resume for every opening. What’s important for one employer may be less so for another.

Go beyond job responsibilities.

Sure, it’s important for hiring managers to know what you did in past positions. However, don’t make lines like “Responsible for…” the main focus of your resume.

Instead, you should be promoting past accomplishments that are most relevant to the position. If you earned the highest sales in a month, highlight it. If you won an industry award, talk about it. If you were promoted after only six months on the job, let hiring managers know.

Real world accomplishments speak volumes when compared to day-to-day job duties.

Know that presentation matters.

You can have a resume chock full of accomplishments and awards, but if the font size is tiny, there’s no white space and it’s completely disorganized, you’re not going to impress the hiring manager.

Before submitting your resume, make sure it’s formatted in a clean, concise manner. That means no flowery fonts or dense paragraphs.

In addition, before hitting the “send” button, print out your resume and review what it looks like on paper. Also, take a look at it on a mobile device to make sure it’s readable.

In this day and age, there’s no telling how a hiring manager will review your resume – whether in print, online or via a mobile device. Your resume needs to be ready for all three scenarios.

And if you need more help creating a resume that gets results, give Murray Resources a call. As one of the leading recruiting agencies in Houston, we can assist you with the entire job search process – from resumes to salary negotiations – all so you can secure job opportunities that are a great fit for your skills and background.

Ready to get started? Contact us today.