Less is More: How to Streamline Your Resume
You resume must facilitate a ‘love at first sight’ scenario: as soon a hiring manager reads it they have to be hooked. This means that it has to be easy read and understand at a quick glance—and the best way to do this? Streamline your resume in a few simple steps:
1. Put relevant information first
The natural progression of your reader’s eyes will be from top to bottom of the page. Therefore, the most pertinent information should come first. Start with your education if you are a recent grad; and if not then the most recent, relevant work experience.
2. Remove irrelevant experience
Again, each piece of information listed should serve the purpose of convincing its reader that you are the perfect fit for the job. Rather than painting a comprehensive picture of every achievement you have ever made, stick to what would be viewed as professional successes by your future employer.
3. Take out extra words
One or two pages is not long—often it is barely sufficient to list everything we would like to on our resumes—so you have to make the most of each word on the page. Don’t fill your resume with filler or ‘fluff’ words to make it sound better; the opposite is usually how it will end up reading. Additionally, try to stick to writing in the first person and active voice wherever possible.
4. Make sure your resume is visually appealing
If a resume is cluttered and difficult for your potential employer to read it is likely to be more distracting than captivating. Each effort to streamlining your resume is one more step toward keeping it out of the recycle bin, and this is one of the most noticeable steps. Make your resume eye-catching for the right reasons by placing your header at the top, dividing it up into clearly marked categories, and presenting information in a clear-cut fashion.
5. Have multiple resumes
Lastly, because each job you apply for will have different qualifications, having multiple resumes that cater to aspects of various jobs is beneficial. More than one resume will also help in the streamlining process because you will not feel pressured to fit all your information into one document—you can cut each resume down to only the most essential items for each job.
Your resume should present your best, most professional achievements; however, if it does not do this in a way that is visually appealing, easy to read, and straightforward it may take away from your eligibility as a candidate. No matter if you are applying for an entry-level or top-level position, streamlining your resume is crucial to getting hired.