Your resume can make or break your chances of landing a new job opportunity. Although some hiring managers and recruiters may spend time thoroughly scanning your resume, at a job fair you usually only have a few seconds to make a good impression.
In today’s competitive job market, it’s important for candidates, especially recent graduates, to have a resume that is eye-catching and informative.
Emily Liou, career happiness coach and founder of job search platform Cultivitae, has reviewed thousands of resumes during her nearly 10-year career in recruiting and career coaching, and says her resume is “a marketing tool, not a revelation.” of everything”. you’ve done”
“Writing a resume can be a little more challenging for a job fair because it’s not tailored to just one organization or position.”
Based on Liou’s advice, these three tips can help you make sure your resume is ready for the career fair:
Be clear and concise
According to a former Amazon recruiter, you have six seconds to grab a hiring manager’s attention when they’re reviewing your resume. If his resume is long and drawn out, chances are they won’t take the time to read it all.
Liou suggests painting a “clear narrative” about the role you want and the information that would be most valuable to the company, while keeping it short.
“Even if it’s not company-specific or role-specific, your resume should highlight who you are, who you want to serve, what you want to do, and how you do it. Focus on that and tailor your resume to that.”
Not only does this help you grab the recruiter’s attention early on, but a clear set of skills could open doors for other opportunities.
“Having a hyper-focused resume also allows an organization to say, ‘We don’t have this role, but have you considered this other role that we have open? You seem like a great fit for that.'”
Perfect your personal summary
Your professional summary is the first thing a recruiter will see at the top of your resume. Liou says this part of the resume is especially crucial for college students and recent graduates, who may not yet have established work experience.
“The professional summary should be able to tell the employer who you are before they have to dissect your experience, your education, your internships, etc.”
After the professional summary, Liou suggests formatting the rest of the resume in this order:
Skills: A snapshot of the technical and hard skills you have learned throughout your career or education. Experience: Relevant to the direction you want to take. Volunteer work: extracurricular activities that have contributed to your professional success. Education: Name of your institution along with your GPA upon graduation.
keep it simple
Gen Z job seekers have been getting creative with their resumes recently, with some even going as far as submitting video resumes on TikTok to showcase their skills. Although this approach may be adopted by some companies, for a job fair, Liou suggests keeping it simple.
“Recruiters literally have, like, six seconds to review and decide if a person might be a good fit for their company. I see a lot of people who are doing video resumes and they’re almost a minute long. People aren’t going to sit there and look at everything before that they can assess what your experience is.
Instead, Liou advises job seekers to keep it “standard and traditional,” at least until their first follow-up interaction with a hiring manager.
“There’s always the follow-up. If you know the company culture is creative, or if your role requires some kind of social media, creative, or video skills, the follow-up would be a good time to add that twist.”
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Source: www.cnbc.com