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How to write a resume in 10 minutes

It benefits to be organized in the challenging job market, where 43% of positions are occupied within 30 days of being advertised. When your ideal position appears on the job websites, you'll be much more proactive if you have an uploaded resume.

How many times have you missed out on great opportunities since you weren't ready? Consider this: Your inbox receives an email notifying a job notice. There's good news: the requirements for a new position at your ideal organization meet your preferences.

You understand that in addition to including your most current employment history, you'll also need to make significant adjustments to your resume because the potential position is very distinct from your former one. How you will put all of this on one or two pages? When you include a cover letter and contact your professional references, you begin to feel overwhelmed. The excellent thing is that writing your resume does not need to be a difficult, weekend-long project. You can complete this in minutes if you divide the process into more manageable, separate parts.

Step 1: Add Your Experiences and Skills

Don't just mention your duties rather emphasize your achievements.

Think about scenarios in your role when you;

  • Displayed desired abilities like problem-solving and strong interpersonal skills.
  • Made a significant or challenging business decision
  • Projects finished without explicit guidelines or instructions
  • Handled a team or instructed a team member
  • Improved productivity, reduced costs, or raised income for a corporation.

Include any latest accolades, honors, published work, or newly learned abilities about your professional experience, or volunteer work that show your commitment and passion for activities other than the workplace.

Step 2: Optimize Your Job History

Examine every one of your duties and make sure the job descriptions are tailored and add powerful action verbs. 

Add quantifiable numbers

When appropriate, use data and facts to support your claims with convincing, impartial proof. For instance, Writing "raised website traffic by 15%" rather than "boosted traffic by ten percent" will save space and is easily readable when measuring your accomplishments.

Avoid adding clichés

Removing phrases or terms like motivated, detail-oriented, go-getter, results-driven, and team player. These repeated phrases reveal little about your special skills or the overall value you can offer to an organization. These meaningless buzzwords waste important space instead describe some examples of how you contributed and what you have achieved.

Create a one-page resume

An employer will not spend more than six seconds on your resume before determining whether to proceed. Think about what the recruiter will see when they scan your resume and review the bullet list for every position. Examine the positions near the bottom of your employment history as well. Is it really necessary to discuss your first job after graduation in five bullet points, or is it more beneficial to discuss a current project you led? Even if you want the recruiter to recognize your talent, you don't have to list every accomplishment you've made in each position you have held.

Consider what you want to convey

You might not use the same resume for every job position. Even though you should never mislead, you can adapt your former roles' benefits, obligations, and successes to the current position. Examine your resume from the viewpoint of the recruiter, and after boosting it, read it again to evaluate how the story unfolds.

Step 3: Organize Your Resume

Reorganize your resume so that only the relevant facts are present.

Move your education section

If you have been out of school for more than a few years, a recruiter will likely find your employment history to be more important than your academic background. Put your education section after your work experience section. Even if a degree from a reputable university may be advantageous in some positions, think about whether your expertise in the field or your degree will be more valuable for the position you want. Eliminate your graduating year and GPA, unless you are a fresh college grad.

Modify resume objective to include qualifications

Keep in mind that you want the recruiter to understand why you are a perfect match for the position. Your cover letter and resume must highlight the benefits you can offer the company, not what you intend to gain from the position. Substitute this valuable space with a portion of your most relevant credentials and capabilities rather than outlining a resume objective.

Step 4: Evaluate and Refine

To give your resume the finishing touch it requires, consider these adjustments.

Check resume format

Verify your resume's format, such as bullet points, indents, margins, and bold or italic typefaces, to ensure that it is aligned. Make sure there is adequate white space on the page and that typefaces are comprehensible. The recruiter will probably be reviewing online, so if you've provided any social media accounts, professional websites, or portfolios, include current links.

Proofread your resume 

Although you might think this is a no-brainer, spelling issues, incorrect verb tenses, and grammatical faults will guarantee that your resume is rejected. With just one or two errors, 76% of managers say that they will exclude an applicant from screening. Such sloppy errors give the appearance that you don't pay attention to details or that you have not reviewed your job application thoroughly, which makes recruiters wonder how significant the position is to you in the real world. Before sending, ask a colleague or mentor proofread the resume.

Create an ATS-Friendly resume

Badly constructed resumes are more likely to be overlooked because recruiters have to sift through hundreds of job applications. ATS scan resumes finding keywords that fit the job requirements. Many employers utilize them for digital applications, therefore it's to your maximum benefit to adapt your resume to their criteria even though the method is far from flawless. Make sure your resume is written in a standard basic font. Not only will this improve readability for the average person, but application tracking systems that may be able to detect the fonts will be less inclined to discard them.

Key Takeaways

  • Include recent and relevant job experiences and skills
  • Customize your work experience to the job description
  • Provide concrete numbers and facts to support your claims for your achievements.
  • Don't add catchphrases and cliches, as they don't give details about your skills and qualifications.
  • Make sure to create a single-page resume. 
  • For every job, optimize your resume and think about what you would like to convey to the hiring manager.
  • Organize your resume in such a way that relevant facts are noticeable. If you have practical work experience, move the education section after your work experience section to highlight your contributions and accomplishments.
  • Change the resume objective to concentrate on your qualifications and skills. 
  • Assess and refine your resume by proofreading and checking resume format, spelling, and grammar mistakes.
  • Try hipCV ATS-friendly resume templates to make your resume writing process easy and convenient.  
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