Skills Section
This part of your resume is where you get to showcase the skills that make you standout. The proficiencies can vary from soft skills ( communication, conflict resolution) to hard skills (software tools, mathematics, and industry knowledge).
When deciding what information to place in this section, it’s useful to highlight the skills from previous jobs and experience that you also enjoy doing. If you worked on a team to bring a product to market, you could extract both soft skills in working with a team and the relevant hard skills in building a product.
Remember that when applying to multiple jobs it is useful to revise this section for an opportunity to match skills required for the job. An example could be a niche skill required for a job, which you may happen to have, but isn't relevant to most jobs.
Proofreading
There’s nothing worse than submitting an application you have worked hours on, only to realize that there are spelling mistakes! An easy way to mitigate this is to have peers review your resume, read it out loud, or using a grammar tool.
There are fantastic grammar tools from Grammarly and Google. We also have a built-in language tool supporting 20+ languages! Use grammar and spell checking tools to ensure you don't have any mistakes.
Consistent, Strong, Active Language
Consistent language is key to having an effective resume. We recommend using active language throughout your resume instead of passive. An example is: I was in a fast-paced team that had made a product that was used by ten thousand users
to Worked in a fast paced team that developed a product used by ten thousand users.
Notice how the active language phrase reads more concisely and sounds stronger? Using this across your resume makes it more professional, and can help your resume stand out.
A compelling resume includes evidence to back your claims. Saying you are a programmer that is good at python is not as strong as saying you worked on an enterprise python application and created over ten thousand lines of code.
Education Section
The second section of your resume is often an education section. This is a great time to showcase your relevant educational background or credentials that make you an excellent fit for the job. An example of an educational or certificate might be:
Job Specific Resumes
Applying to hundreds of jobs can take a lot of your time. You may find yourself sending the same resume to many employers. Although you may think you are saving time you are actually reducing your chance of getting an interview!
A good strategy to have a stand out application is to tailor your resume with specific terms related to each unique position. If the job is looking for Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet as a primary skill, it would be advantageous to re-order your skills section and provide another example showcasing your Excel experience.