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Always tailor your resume

No two of your resumes should be the same, because no two jobs that you apply for are the same. Your resume must be finely tuned to fit the job description of the job you are applying for. That means every resume you send must be unique to the job and the company. That may sound like a lot of work, but that’s exactly what looking for a new job is a lot of work.

Present your resume well

An important note to start: if your resume is not well laid out, and/or there is too much text, it puts people off immediately.

Make sure that you present your resume clearly, with a structure that is logical and easy-to-follow. That means clear headings that separate the individual sections. Keep details concise, and include nothing that could be deemed irrelevant. Can it be jazzed up with images or visual data (that is relevant)? Make your technical resume something delightful to read, not a struggle.

Start with a clear summary

In the English-speaking world at least, it is increasingly common to start your resume with something that is often called an ‘executive summary’, or ‘personal profile’. What is this exactly? It’s a paragraph or two (but nothing longer) which sells you with a summary. It includes your main skills, experience, achievements, character, and why you would be great for this job in this company. Don’t make it too salesy, but at the same time, this is your one shot to get noticed. Start poorly here, and the rest of your resume may remain unread.

Spell out your strengths immediately,  and detail exactly what you are looking for

What are your technical skills and experience (relate this directly to the job description), and why would you be the best person for this job? It sounds simple when you put it like that, and keeping it simple is the best way to go.

Give more details of your experience, and emphasize particular achievements

Now talk about your experience, giving relevant examples of the technical activities you performed in each of your previous jobs (starting with the most recent).

Most importantly, be clear in communicating your achievements, and as well as what you would regard to be your personal achievements, how did you add value to the company you were with at the time? Can you put a (financial or numerical) value on it? That really stands out on a resume, and the more you can quantify your results, the better.

Impress with your qualifications and skills

Your educational background is, of course, important, but the technical world is always evolving, and you must too. What technical skills do you have? What technical skills are you familiar with and could you easily adapt to quickly? Draw the relationships between different types of technical abilities and show the options that your experience and skills cover. And vitally, connect them to the job description of the position you are applying for.

Prove your innovation

Innovation is key in technical roles, so how have you been innovative in the past? Saying ‘I am innovative’ will not cut it. Again, quantify and clarify as much as possible.

Show your commitment to staying cutting edge

Most technical fields evolve quickly, so what do you do to stay relevant? This includes recent training, any self-learning you have undertaken, relevant cutting-edge projects you have participated in, and anything else that proves you move with the times.

Use the right tools to help you

Your resume has to be well written: that’s non-negotiable, as a poorly written resume reflects badly, even when you are a technical individual. Fortunately, there are loads of tools out there, such as Linguix’s AI-powered writing assistant, which can help you put together a beautifully written resume. Linguix helps by giving you structural recommendations pulled from its immense bank of examples, and it has a great collection of writing templates to boot.

Refer to references

Include a couple of winning references. They should be impactful and eclectic and truly represent your experience.

Is there anything else you can include?

What else adds weight to your ability, your achievements, or your character? Although the job is technical, let your personality shine through as this is increasingly the focus of hiring companies. Skills can be taught, but a winning personality is harder to create. You must bring it with you into the job, so present it clearly on your resume.

The post How to Put Together A Memorable (For All the Right Reasons) Technical Resume appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Start with the relevant details

English language resumes tend not to include photographs, which is a common practice in many other countries around the world. In fact, in countries such as Britain and the United States, the less personal information that is included at the beginning of your resume (or CV, as it is called by the British), the better.

So, what should you include? Your name, your abbreviated professional qualifications, your contact details, and any links to professional media sites, such as LinkedIn, or if you have an electronic portfolio accessible somewhere, for example. These details are relevant to your work only.

What shouldn’t you include? Your age, your marital status, your gender, whether or not you are a parent, and links to social media sites such as Facebook. These have nothing to do with your ability to do the job, so there’s no need to include them!

As you can see, there is really not much to include here at all.

Tailor your resume

Now, this may come as a surprise, but you shouldn’t really have just one resume. If you only apply for one job then maybe one resume is sufficient, and the same is true if you post your resume on your LinkedIn site, but it is not uncommon to apply for half a dozen roles at least.

If you do this, then it is vital that your resume is tailored, or adapted, to each and every role. No two jobs are exactly the same, are they? So that means the relevant skills and experience that you highlight will need to be adapted to suit the requirements of that role, as well as the organizational culture of that particular business.

That’s a lot of work, right? Yes, but looking for and securing a new role is like actually having a job ­– just one that you don’t get paid for. Don’t expect a great new job to fall into your lap, and be aware that one standard resume that you flood the market with is unlikely to be the answer. Instead, you need something unique and relevant to the specific role you apply for. Each and every time.

Include a great personal statement

A personal statement, also sometimes called a personal profile or executive summary, is the part of your resume, immediately after your personal contact details, that briefly explains why you are the perfect person for the job. Including this section – which is usually a couple of shortish paragraphs in length – is not common in all cultures, but has become as essential component of English language resumes.

Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager or recruiting consultant. Sometimes it is possible to receive literally hundreds of resumes for one open position, so why would you, or how could you, spend a lot of time going through each and every one, trying to dig out the relevant information?

That’s the purpose of this personal statement: an opportunity to present in just a few lines why you are the perfect person for the job. State who you are, what sets you apart, and what defines you for the role at hand. It’s a sales pitch, but with the relevant information to back it up.

It is the persuasiveness of these lines that will encourage the hiring manager to read on. Or not.

Format it

Your resume needs to look good! Of course, content is important but if your resume is laid out and formatted in such a way that it looks messy and is difficult to read, then the hiring manager may lose patience and overlook you, even though you may be the best person for the job.

Don’t let this happen. Use standard templates that are available on the web, look through plenty of examples, and ask other people’s advice. Show it to family and friends and take their feedback on board. The general rule is to keep the format clean and concise and ensure that your resume is always easy to navigate around in order to quickly find the relevant information, which means using clearly defined headings.

Make sure it’s well written

Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and punctuation oversights are just not allowed on a resume. Of course, there is no law against it, but this is a document that sells you, and what do these mistakes say about you? That you are careless, and do not take the time to proofread. Even if English is not your first language, and perfect English is not expected for the role, at the very least you must take the time to show you put in maximum effort to make your resume as perfect as it could be, which means proofreading it, even if it costs you. You have to speculate to accumulate, as the old adage says.

Fortunately, there are also great online tools, such as Linguix, which can perform the task of proofreading and offering corrections for you. Linguix will point out spelling and grammatical mistakes, offering you alternatives and even synonyms if you would like to mix your language up a little bit. Why not see the improvements it could make to your resume?

Highlight relevant skills and experience

Remember how we spoke about tailoring your resume to the specific job? Well that means that your relevant skills and experience need to be adapted accordingly. You can do this by changing the order of things, bringing certain things to the fore and relegating others.

What is certainly recommended is using the job specification of the job you are interested in to inform this part of your resume. Make sure that your skills and experience, as listed, match the requirements of each and every job that you apply for. Once again, no two jobs are exactly the same, which is why these changes are necessary.

Quantify your achievements

In each previous role that you mention (the highly relevant ones), it’s really important that you talk about your achievements in your role. Sure, you may want to start with your duties in that position, which is definitely relevant, but be sure to leave plenty of room for what you can call ‘successes’ or ‘major achievements’.

With these, which can be bullet-pointed, try to quantify your achievements as far as you can. So, if you were responsible for helping increase turnover, for example, list those numbers. Or if you oversaw an increase in staffing, also include those figures. Numbers stand out on a resume among the text, and also help to put a mathematical slant on your experience and performance, which appeals to many hiring managers. It’s all about producing a combination of skills and achievements that relate to the role you are applying for.

Make it the perfect length

Two pages, delivered back-to-back, or on separate sheets if you prefer! Obviously, it matters not if it’s an electronic document, which nowadays resumes nearly always are. It’s still round about two pages – that’s the perfect length.

Sell yourself, but in the right way

A resume, like it or not, is a sales document, and the product is you. However, the selling should be done with the persuasiveness of the formatting, relevance and suitability to the job that is being applied for, with the job specification always clearly in mind. Using persuasive language, such as meaningless adjectives and rolling out the same clichés, such as being a great team player, adds nothing. Always think about what sets you apart: using the same old tired selling points doesn’t achieve that.

Include a cover letter

The cover letter these days is more than likely a cover email. It matters not, because the principle is the same. We have published previously on how to write a good cover letter, and given you a step-by-step guide to doing just that, but you may ask how your cover letter differs from the personal statement: the third point on this list.

The personal statement makes no mention of the specific company you are applying to, whereas the cover letter will, speaking in particular about where you saw the advertisement, and why you would be a good fit for the company and its culture. The personal statement will speak more in relation to the role itself. Other than that, there are plenty of similarities, although the cover letter may provide a little more detail.

A great cover letter/email will, in many cases, be the prompt to get your resume read. Don’t waste this opportunity. 

The post 10 Tips for Writing a Great Resume appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Hence, you need to write a cover letter that will stand out, and it has to be perfect. But how do you set about coming up with such a letter? Thankfully our guide is here to help. Read  on to find out how to write a good cover letter.

Why do you need a template?

Typically, when you are in the middle of a job search process, you send out a lot of applications. Additionally, you will find that you need to include a cover letter for 90% of jobs listings.

It takes too long to write a new cover letter each time you are applying for a job. This is why you need to base your text on an effective template (dozens of useful templates are available to our Premium users). Here you can find the  one you could use to skyrocket your chances of landing a job.

1. Don’t forget about the header

In most cases, you will be allowed to attach a cover letter as a file, and it is a good idea to structure it properly. In doing this, you can follow the rules of formal business letter writing and include the following information:

• Name;
• Phone number and email;
• The name of the person you are writing to (the hiring manager) and the company name;
• Links to your professional website and social media profiles.

Try to keep it professional. For example, your email address should be more or less formal: if your primary email looks something like sexyjohn@mail.com get an additional one like John.Sanders@mail.com. It is also a bad idea to send resumes using your current work email: it is just the not correct thing to do.

2. Follow the three paragraphs rule

The main goal of sending a cover letter is to attract the attention of the hiring manager and get this person to review your CV or resume.

This means a good cover letter should not be too long. Three paragraphs will be enough. The basics of writing brief texts such as these are as follows:

• In the first paragraph, you should try your best to grab the reader’s attention.
• The second paragraph is used to describe your offer.
• Polish the impression in the last paragraph.

Here is what you can include in each section of your cover letter.

3. Writing an introduction

According to stats, recruiters spend an average of just 6.25 seconds on reviewing a specific resume. This means that for the cover letter you have even less time to convince your reader. And so, the opening paragraph is crucial.

Try to avoid wordy and overly official sentences. Such texts do not make any particular sense, and lack the details that might help the hiring manager in determining whether you are a good fit for the job. Here are two examples of opening paragraphs:

Bad:

I am writing to you in response to the PR Manager job posting. I have 7+ years of experience in PR and would like to apply to this position.

At first glance it is OK. However, if you put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager, you will see some problems and gaps to fill. For example, there are no details about what exactly the candidate was doing for those seven years of their career. The main point is that the applicant considers him or herself a good fit because they have done something similar before.

Good:

I am an active follower of XYZ company, and so I was excited to see your job posting for the PR Manager position. I’d like to put my knowledge and skills forward to help in reaching your public relations goals, and think I might be a good fit. While working at SuperCorp company I was responsible for nationwide PR activities working on getting the company mentioned in media outlets like Forbes, and overall reach through this channel has increased by 23% in six months.

See the difference? Here we have highlighted achievements and enthusiasm for the job. These are always good things to have.

4. Show benefits for the potential employer

Once you’ve managed to attract initial attention, you then need to develop your success stories and offer more details. This is what the second paragraph of the cover letter stands for.

In this part you should mention why you are the best solution for the company’s need, meaning that this section has to be tied to the job description.

For example, in the case of the PR manager above, the XYZ company needs:

• An experienced PR manager, who is used to working with media, journalists, pitching corporate stories and handling inquiries.
• Also, they need the candidate to be tech-savvy, as the XYZ is an AI technology startup.

Here is how you can deal with these requirements in your cover letter:

….

At my current company SuperCorp, I am working on organizing and handling the PR support of new releases from planning to media outreach, and media relations to reporting. For example, this year my crucial challenge was to increase media coverage in top-tier technology-related publications (TechCrunch, VentureBeat, etc.) by 20%. By the end of the first quarter, the number of mentions in the media from the list had increased more than by 30%. Referral traffic now brings about 15% of overall website traffic (compared to 5% the year before).

At the beginning of the section, the candidate outlined their duties in their current job, then mentioned that the work relates to dealing with the technology-oriented press, and finally demonstrated some numbers and results.

Important: the text is focused on benefits for the current employer (better media outreach, traffic growth, etc.).

When reading this, the hiring manager clearly understands what the XYZ company might receive if the candidate is hired.

5. Explain why you want this job

A good cover letter not only highlights an applicant’s experience and future benefits for the potential employer but also should provide an answer to the question of why the candidate wants this particular job.

Here is a perfect three-step strategy for solving this puzzle:

• Mention some company-related fact like an upcoming, current, or most exciting project or product/service.
• Explain why you are interested in it: demonstrate some knowledge.
• Mention once again how your experience will help to achieve better results with this project.

Here is an example:

….

I’ve read a lot about your new AI-based shopping recommendation app. I am interested in this project both from a personal (I am a passionate shopper) and professional perspective (It is always an exciting challenge to get a new project off the ground). I believe that my professional experience in media relations and a network of connections in online technology-related media will help in generating traction for the project.

6. Polish everything

Perfect, now you have a nicely written cover letter with all the significant questions of the potential employers answered. However, it is too early to hit “send.” First, make sure that the final result is quick and easy t to read. If your text exceeds 300 words, go through it again and cut down this number.

Also, an overall impression could be easily spoiled by grammar and spelling mistakes. To eliminate them, run your final cover letter for a job application through a grammar checker – for example, Linguix.com.

Bonus tip: use the postscript

The “P.S.” section of any letter is perceived as a place for important information. It is psychology: even if you are scrolling down, your eyes will catch the headline and the postscript. Marketers know this perfectly and actively use it in email marketing, for example.

You can leverage this technique to tell the hiring manager something significant that will add to the overall impression. In the case of the PR manager, you can offer to share your ideas and practical advice on solving the tasks mentioned in the job description.

P.S. If you are interested, I would be happy to share my ideas on getting into TechCrunch and Business Insider as well as attracting more leads around your new product based on my previous experience with SuperCorp.

Final thoughts: Do’s and dont’s

In conclusion, let’s outline the short rules to follow and mention the mistakes to avoid when working on a cover letter for a job application:

• Focus on the employer, and the benefits you can bring once hired. Show the hiring manager why the business needs such a good professional.
• Be brief. Follow the “three paragraph rule,” and try to keep your cover letter down to 300 words. However, there is nothing terrible about adding a valuable “P.S.”
• Customize cover letters to better fit a certain position. Refer to a job description and tailor the description of your experience to the problems the company wants to solve with a hire.
• Double check everything. Run your writing through Linguix.com and try to find someone to proofread the text.

The post How To Write A Good Cover Letter: Seven Practical Tips appeared first on Linguix Blog.