Is your resume ready for the 20-second scan?

Studies have shown that the average employer spends 15-20 seconds perusing each resume they receive. Yours can grab their attention if you remember to follow these three simple guidelines:

1. Styling – Your resume should be neat and without spelling mistakes. It should be easy to read with your experience and education in reverse chronological order. If you have a large amount of previous work experience, please list only those that are most relevant to the potential job. Don’t get too fancy with fonts; keep it simple 10 or 12 shades, Times or Ariel. Your name and contact information, including email, should be in bold type and at the top of the resume.

Tip: The eye naturally goes to the margins of the paper, so use the left margin to list your employer and the right margin to list dates of employment.

2. Skills – Review your resume to make sure the potential employer can clearly see how your skill set relates to a potential position. Make sure any applicable skills you may possess are detailed in your previous job roles. The goal here is to let the employer envision you performing the functions of the proposed job. You need to position yourself as the best couple.

Tip: If you are new to the job market or have been forced to look for work due to a career change or other circumstance and believe you do not have the required job skills; then he must do a transferable skills assessment. You can easily do this by taking a pager and listing the tasks you performed at your previous job and then the skills that were required to complete these tasks (example Task: discuss financial statements with supervisor, Skill used: present written and oral reports). information clearly o Task: responsible for showing the employee the filing system, Skill used: training and supervising staff)

3. Importance – The employer must also see your potential value and the benefit of hiring you over all other applicants. I recommend that you place a summary of qualifications at the top of the resume. This should be a brief summary of your skills and accomplishments that will indicate your past successes and how you will have a positive impact on this new organization.

Tip: List the main strengths you have previously demonstrated, such as leadership, goal orientation, or specific knowledge or skill in a particular field. Use action verbs like; achieved, detailed, minimized, redesigned, rendered, won, etc…

In short, take the time to plan your resume and when you write it, use the guidelines I’ve detailed in this article. Review your resume several times before sending it to a potential employer. If you’re sure your resume is in the right style, list your relevant skills, and if the reader can clearly imagine the importance of hiring you, send it out.