The 5 Resume Tips Recruiters Want You To Know

We recently sat down with recruiters from Google, Publicis Media, and our own team to learn more about what jobseekers need to know when creating their resumes.

Juan Alberto Montoya from Google shared with us, “You need to look at your resume as a representative of who you are, so treat it as if it’s speaking on your behalf.” 

If your resume is your story, you need to consider, “How do I want to tell my story?”

We’ve pulled the 5 most important resume tips that recruiters want you to know when you’re applying for a new role. Get out that resume of yours and let’s make sure that it’s polished to perfection!

The 5 Resume Tips Recruiters Want You To Know

Cover The Basics

The number one thing the recruiters recommended was making sure that all of your contact information was up-to-date. 

Make sure you have your first and last name, email address, and phone number. But it’s not enough to just have a phone number…you need to make sure that your voicemail is available for recruiters to leave a message. As Jacob Schultz from Publicis Media shared, “Yes, recruiters still do pick up the phone and call candidates!”

Beyond your contact information, your resume should always have your work experience and certificates you’ve completed, like a Google Career Certificate, and any technical skills you have, including, but not limited to, particular software you know how to use or programming languages.

Focus on Relevance AND Impact

When you’re building your resume, be critical about what work experience and skills you add to it. Keep it relevant to the role you’re applying for. Many people find it worthwhile to have a main resume that lists out all of their work experience, certificates and credentials, skills, etc. and then pull data from that main resume to build a more tailored resume for each role you apply for.

Remember: If you no longer feel confident using a skill, like a second language or a program you haven’t used in years, take it off of your resume. You never know when an interviewer will start asking you questions in Spanish when you haven’t actually used your Spanish skills in years, which is what happened to CareerCircle Customer Success Manager, Emily Leung!

Outside of relevance, you need to show the impact that you’ve had in your previous role.

Juan shared what’s called the XYZ format. It’s a way of reframing how you think about what you do on a day-to-day basis and how you can contextualize it in a resume to build a story.

When you’re thinking about a task or project you manage, frame it as “I accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z.”

For example, “I increased productivity by 15% quarter over quarter as measured by completed projects by implementing an Agile project management framework.”

Using the XYZ format helps you to showcase what you did, how you did it, and what impact it had to make sure that every bullet point on your resume contributes to your story effectively.

Simple Is Better

While those elaborately designed resumes are certainly beautiful, there’s no need for colors, fancy fonts, or photos. In fact, some of those designs could make it more difficult for recruiters to find you in their Applicant Tracking System because the software isn’t able to parse (or extract the data from) it effectively.

Your resume should be:

• Single column
• PDF or doc file, depending on what the application calls for
• No more than 2 pages

And have:

• An easy-to read font like Times New Roman/Arial/Calibri/etc.
• At least size 11 font
• Clear headings for each section

If you want to highlight your creativity, instead of building a graphically designed resume, build a portfolio! This is especially helpful for anyone who is in the creative industry, like web designers or content writers.

Use the Lingo…Correctly

Jacob Schultz of Publicis Media shared with us, “I switched from being a career coach to a recruiter and my resume was filled with jargon from my career coach days. I often referred to working with students in my resume, but in recruiting, the people we serve aren’t students, they’re potential candidates. So I had to learn how to translate my resume and change some of those keywords. Once I started using that HR lingo, I started getting interview requests all over the place so sometimes it’s just about changing your language.”

When you’re looking for a role in a particular industry, and especially if you’re transitioning into that industry, learn the terminology they use so you can reflect that language on your resume. Then when a recruiter is using keywords to search their ATS, you’ll come up as a candidate who knows what they’re talking about!

Highlight Your Professional Development Efforts

One of the most frequently asked questions we see is, “How should I talk about my Google Career Certificate on my resume?”

For most people, you’ll have a section on your resume for “Education” or “Certificates” and your Google Career Certificate would fall under that category. Some people like to put this section at the top of their resume to make sure it stands out at first glance and that can be a great option if you don’t have a ton of work experience in your chosen field.

You can also take time to highlight the particular skills you learned. For example, if you have completed the Google Data Analytics Career Certificate, consider adding skills like:

• SQL
• Data Visualization
• Predictive modeling
• Statistical Analysis

You can also format the project you completed during your program into a portfolio on a website or in a PDF deck to help support your skills.

When we talked to one of the Google Employer Consortium members, they told us that they love seeing who has completed a Google Career Certificate because it shows them that these people have dedicated themselves to their professional development and gained the skills needed to be successful…so don’t be afraid to highlight that certificate on your resume!

If you’re feeling overwhelmed even getting started, we’ve got your back. Our Resume Builder will get you set up with a professional resume in minutes!