These days a good résumé is just not good enough anymore. To get the job or internship of your dreams, you need an exceptional resume.
Making a resume that stands out is more than just listing your academic achievements and work experience. Sure, you must record this. But there is so much more you can do to tailor your résumé to suit you.
Your résumé is also an idea of you, your wonderful personality, your passions, and your hobbies.
People who apply for the same position as you are likely to have similar qualifications, so the bottom line is that your future employer can’t wait to have you on their team.
Are you ready to brag (ok, just a little)?
Here are a few tips to get you started with your résumé:
Work on your soft skills
Are you good at giving presentations or sharing your work and ideas with a room full of people? Well you would write your excel skills on your resume (um, boring!) So why not let your future employer know that you are a sociable person, that you are great at communicating and problem-solving on a team, and that you don’t back down when it’s your turn to make the tea!
All of these transferable skills, also known as “soft skills,” make you a better, more versatile candidate. They can help your interviewer to get an idea of you as part of their team.
Traveling, studying abroad, and trying out new experiences can help you expand your portfolio of soft skills.
Learn a language
Having a second or third language on your resume is one of the best ways to make your application stand out from the crowd. Bilingual people are also often better able to find creative solutions to problems.
You don’t believe us? Read our article where we explain why investing in foreign language learning is so important to your career and find out which languages can help you move forward.
As the list of benefits that As a bilingual workforce entails, large employers are increasingly actively looking for employees who are fluent in another language.
If you’ve taken the time to learn a new language, you’re a great candidate for business with international clients or travel opportunities. It’s also proof that you can work hard to achieve big goals.
Studying abroad can help you develop the language skills you need. A nice side effect is that you upgrade your résumé twice – both through your international experience and through your language skills.
You have a lot of fun and it looks twice good on your résumé, making it a win -Win-win situation is. (Which is definitely there.)
And don’t forget your hobbies
Not all of your skills seem completely relevant to your new job, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a place on your résumé.
Make room at the bottom of the page to share a little about your hobbies and interests so that your future employer can get to know the real you. Would you like some examples?
When you tell them that you are a qualified diver with a passion for marine conservation, or when you tell them that you volunteer at the local animal shelter, your personality and values can be reflected on paper.
If you are an avid runner, belong to a triathlon club, or enjoy spending your weekends on long bike rides, your colleagues in your new office have the chance to find out that you share the same passion.
It’s about being open and honest so that you can identify with the right job and be part of a team that suits you.
“I, I, I”
It’s not just about you … Well, actually yes, but you don’t want to start every sentence with an “I” either. Mix it up a bit so your future employer can read more easily and see your creativity.
Swap sentences like “I can speak French” and “I studied abroad” for the much nicer sounding sentence “During mine After spending six months abroad in Paris, I improved my language skills and now speak French fluently ”.
When you’re done, have someone proofread it.
Whether you’re asking a parent, sibling, teacher, or neighbor who has known you since childhood, make sure someone reads your resume before you submit it.
First, they will help you spot spelling or grammatical errors, and second, they are the best people for suggesting things you might have forgotten!
Talking about yourself can feel a little unnatural, but these people know you so well that they reminiscent of the event you attended a few years ago or the class you took while you were at school, which might even strengthen your résumé.