Chances are you were required to create a resume in one of your high school or college classes, but you’ve most likely gained more experience and recognition since then, so your old one is sure to be out of date. When you sit down to create a new one, you need to focus on the information itself, but you also need to think about the format of your resume – because how you say something is equally as important as what you have to say.
Resume trends change just about every year, so you’ll need to frequently modify yours to keep up with the times. Here are some of the most popular and successful trends from this year that you can use to take your own resume to the next level:
Add breakaway text
You know when you’re reading a magazine or newspaper and there’s a quote or caption that’s in a different size, font, or is in its own little box? Well, you’ll probably be surprised to know that you can use this attention-catching strategy in your resume. Whoever is looking over your resume will be drawn to whatever you choose to highlight, so decide on that one aspect of yourself that you know they won’t be able to turn down and make sure it stands out.
Include graphics
While including photos in your resume probably isn’t too helpful, including a graph or chart can set you apart from the crowd. For example, if you helped increase sales at your company by 7.2%, incorporate a graph of the sales increase over the years in your resume. You can simply state this information in your resume, but it will be much more effective and memorable if you draw attention to it in the form of something visual.
Submit a video resume
We wouldn’t advise you to follow the format of Elle Woods’ video resume/application that she submitted to Harvard (it worked, but it’s a movie), but a video resume in general isn’t a bad idea depending on your field. You don’t have to turn your entire resume into a video if you don’t want to, but you can always include a link to a short video introduction. The key to making this work is writing a quality script and presenting yourself in a confident, intelligent manner while on film.
Customize based on the job
Your resume definitely should not be “one size fits all” because employers always look for different things in their potential employees. So, do your research on the company and figure out exactly who they’re looking for to fill this position. Do they emphasize experience more than accolades? Include detailed job descriptions for positions that you’ve held and limit yourself to only a few major awards. Are they looking for someone who has proven that they are a great team player? Draw attention to your extensive volunteer work when you helped build 10 houses for Habitat for Humanity.
Replace your objective with a summary
The old rule was to always put your “objective” at the top of your resume, such as, “My goal is to obtain a full-time position.” However, that trend is being replaced by the performance summary/profile statement. This summary will be at the very top of your resume, so you need to make yourself look impressive by highlighting your best characteristics and achievements. This is not the time to be humble because this statement alone can make or break your chances of scoring an interview.
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