Before you send out your next resume, there are seven things you need to do:
1. Check the content
Do you have all the information on your resume that you need? Is the important information easy to find? Need more information: Read my post on resume content
2. Customize your resume to the job
Make sure you customize your resume to the job requirements. The first screening step companies go through is to reject job seekers that don’t have all the skills they consider critical. If you fail to list a skill or experience that is critically important, the odds are that the hiring manager will assume you don’t have what they are looking for. The next step for your resume is the trash bin. Make sure your resume clearly shows your experience with each job requirement. Need more information: Check out my post on how to customize a resume
3. Spell check
Too many job seekers shortcut this step. Make sure you spell check your resume before sending it. Often, job seekers spell check a resume after the write their first version, but fail to do this after every revision.
4. Have your resume assess by a professional
Do you know how your resume is perceived by hiring managers? Hire an expert to review your resume. Many job seekers spend so much time on their resume that they can’t step back and assess it objectively. An impartial expert can help you fine tune your resume and give you a competitive advantage over other job seekers. There are a variety of services that provide resume assessments – some are free, while others require are fee based.
Palladian offers a thorough resume assessment service, where we examine 61 resume attributes and provide specific written feedback that will help you improve your resume.
5. Write a quality cover letter
A strong cover letter will help make a good impression. Spend the time to develop a good cover letter, or if you aren’t a great writer, hire someone to write a cover letter for you. There are a number of services that do this. Check out my research report on cover letter best practices to learn now to write a cover letter that is better than the ones your competition uses. Email us to get the report: palladian at palladianinternational dot com
6. Check your voice mail message
Make sure you have a professional sounding voice mail message. If you’re successful and the company calls you, you do not want to have an unprofessional or offensive message that you recorded for your friends.
7. Check your Facebook page
Do you have a public social networking profile? If so, review the content. It’s common for hiring managers to google the name of a candidate. If you publish information about yourself in a social networking site, make sure the information won’t hurt your career. You can either edit the site, or restrict access to only your accepted friends.