If you have ever tried to apply for a job, then you’ve probably wondered what are the most important things you need to do in order to get noticed, pass the interviews and finally – get the job.
If that is the case, you are only one of all the people in the world that are wondering the same thing. One of the most googled questions is the question about how to make that first impression and how to create the significant advantage when it comes to all the job applicants. Although this question is not that easy to answer, since every company is looking for different qualities, skills and special characteristics, there still are certain things you can do in order to leave the best impression possible, or get noticed, which is one of the biggest goals of future employees when they first apply for a job.
What are the biggest problems job candidates face on a daily basis? Or even a better question: what are the biggest problems and struggles people face when they triy to apply for a job? Although the list of this kind of problem is endless, still there are several ones that are most common – especially nowadays. That being said, you might think that in the era of online information everything is more simple, more approachable and easier to understand.
However, the reality is completely different. What do we mean by that? When writing a resume or a cover letter, it seems like there are thousands of rules you need to master in order to write a good resume or a cover letter, there are thousands of coaches online as well as articles, videos, tips and tricks and different materials, and still oftentimes, people don’t manage to get to the interview because they get rejected right there, when they only made a first step.
Or should we say quite often, not just sometimes. Why does this happen and what can be done about it? As a logical consequence of too much information, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everyone’s opinions, experiences and fantastic resumes. However, it’s the worst thing that could happen because comparing yourself to others usually doesn’t bring anything good. On the other hand, copying someone else’s cover letters or resume can be a good tactic, especially when it comes to their job qualifications and tasks they used to do, but it should never become a common thing because having a unique presence is what usually gets people the job of their dreams.
However, having a lot of experience, great skills and good qualifications is something we all want, some of us have it some don’t and it is what usually makes the difference, but do you know that on average – the amount of time a recruiter spends reading your resume is only a couple of seconds? This means that even if you are a fantastic or even the best job candidate for that job, if your resume is too cluttered, too simple or too colorful, if your picture is bad or sends a wrong message, or if you focus on emphasizing information that will be counterproductive for that very job, chances that you will be contacted, are really, really low, and this is something you want to avoid at all costs.
Luckily, according to resume-example.com there are certain things every person who applies for a job can do to increase the chances of getting that job or being noticed in the crowd. But this crowd is a virtual crowd that’s full off emails, resumes, cover letters and other documents. After all, job recruiters are only humans, but these humans know exactly what they’re looking for and what they need to find, which is why you need to make sure to give them exactly that let’s dig into it:
1. Keep It Both Simple And Concise
By simple we mean the layout, colors and format. This is extremely important, since the layout, fonts, letter sizes, columns, lines, picture and other elements are the first thing that will help you catch the recruiter’s eye. Or the exact opposite – make it harder for them to determine what is important and what isn’t. This is why you should check out certain templates and find the one that’s suitable for that job type, job description, and of course – your experience, skills and everything you’re planning on writing. When it comes to being concise, this means that you should avoid using redundant words, making the resume copy harder to read, understand, and therefore reducing your chances for success. So before you start writing, keep in mind that quality always should come before quantity. And this is especially the case with resumes and cover letters.
2. Optimize It
In large companies, cover letters and resumes are not always being read by their employees, but they rather use certain softwares that helps them sort out the ones that don’t meet their basic requirements. Now imagine having your CV rejected only because you knew nothing about ATS for example? When it comes to optimizing your resume, you should, again, pay attention to simplicity, and more importantly – the selection of words you are about to use.
Softwares like that are reactive to keywords connected to the very job, and they are also better with Word documents rather than other formats.
3. Don’t Forget The Keywords
As we’ve previously mentioned, don’t ever forget about the keywords – they can provide you a job opportunity! But keywords are not the same thing as the irrelevant buzz words, so please be careful to remove all the redundancies where possible. And make sure your grammar is on point. If you are not sure what keywords are relevant and what not, do a research, and find the ones that are connected to your field. You can even find a LinkedIn profile of a person who used to work in your potential job position, so you can simply copy paste their skills etc.
4. Focus On The Important
Less is more is the number one advice you will get when applying for a job. Although for some companies, your fishing and painting hobbies are an interesting thing to know, in others it will only be a minus point. Make sure to get familiar with the company’s policy and organization, in order to determine what should be shared and what not. The same goes for all the jobs you had in the past. Not all of them need to be listed.
