How can you make an impressive résumé?

1. Write relevant skills
2. Add extra-curricular experience
3. Write in a concise manner
4. Make it visually-appealing

Once you complete your bachelor degree or MBA at a business management school in the Philippines, it may be time to look for your ideal job. And when it comes to applying for your dream job, one of your biggest challenges may possibly be your résumé.

Whether you have an undergrad degree or an MBA, this small document is supposed to market your capabilities and showcase that you fit the position in one to two pages. If you are currently in the process of making an impressive résumé, these are the tips that you need to keep in mind:

Write relevant skills

Your résumé is a form of advertisement, with the HR manager as the consumer and you as the product. You have to show to the reader that you can answer the company’s needs just by one look. A company knows you can answer their needs when they can see you have the relevant skills for the job in your resume.

The question now is, what is considered relevant? In this case, there are 2 types: hard and soft.

Hard skills refer to the credentials and technical capabilities needed to qualify for a job and examples include:

• Bachelor degree in_____
• Post-graduate degree (like an MBA)
• Bookkeeping
• Proficiency in software
• Copywriting
• Digital Marketing

When it comes to technical capabilities, it can be easy for graduates to know what the employer is looking for because it is already written on the website. Soft skills, on the other hand, can be harder to pinpoint. These capabilities are the personality traits needed to succeed at a certain position.

For job openings, most businesses don’t explicitly enumerate what characteristics they are looking for in future employees. But, hiring managers are more likely to call back applicants who take time to highlight their personal strengths that seem to match the job posting. For example, someone who is applying for a management position can state that he or she is “detail-oriented, communicative, and organized.”

If you have trouble finding what personality strengths to highlight, think about what traits would be most helpful to accomplish the everyday tasks of the position you are aiming for.

Add extra-curricular experience

Extra-curricular activities can cover internships, volunteer work, training, sports clubs, varsities, and college organizations. As a college graduate with little to no professional experience, extracurricular credentials can be helpful because they may have instilled transferable skills needed by the company. Nowadays, brands see the value non-work activities can offer.

Transferable skills companies are looking for are usually:

Leadership

Did you become president of a college organization or varsity captain in your last year of business management school in the Philippines? Either of these achievements will show employers that you are not afraid to lead people. Offices need employees who can potentially guide and manage coworkers during uncertain times.

Team player

Graduates who volunteered a lot in college are known to be selfless, empathetic, and hardworking. All the traits needed for a good team player at work. Stating your volunteering activities and community services can show companies that you aren’t simply motivated by money. Instead, principle guides you do things well.

Well-roundedness

Did you learn skills by taking classes outside of your college degree? You may have studied management, but you chose to take foreign language classes in Spanish.  Companies are always looking for well-rounded people who are talented in many areas because that means they have more to offer.

Write in a concise manner

HR personnel doesn’t have all the time in the world to analyze your résumé. According to Glassdoor, they only spend 6 seconds reading an application before deciding it goes to the “rejection” bin. Thus, they must see that you are qualified right away. To do this, you must write in a concise manner.

How can you insert a lot in as little words as possible? These are the ways to do so.

• Avoid unnecessary hobbies
• Limit your personal info to name, professional email, address, and phone number
• Use keywords to describe your strengths (ex. Proficient in JavaScript)
• Use bullet points to describe your former extra-curricular positions
• Limit school information to your college and degree, unless you received honors

Make it visually-appealing

When it comes to visual appeal, hiring managers are looking for résumés that focus on clear text and simple formatting because they are easy to scan through. To make your document easy to read, you should:

• Use legible font styles. – Arial, Georgia, and Tahoma.
• Make the font size at least 12
• Clearly mark your headings by making it bold or 2 fonts larger
• Leave white space in between text
• Remove grammatical errors
• Use bright colors in moderation
• Keep bullet point statements short

If you have a hard time making your résumé visually appealing even with these tips, you can always choose to go with a résumé template from computer programs like Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Key Takeaway

Before you even get an interview, companies will judge your worth based on the resume you submit. Since they go through hundreds of applications per day, it is important that you take time in making yours look special. To make your resume, you have to keep it short, meaningful, and generally pleasing to look at.