Looking to make your resume stand out? Start by customizing it to match the job description, incorporating relevant keywords, and showcasing your unique value through quantified achievements and highlighted skills. Design for impact by keeping it readable with a simple layout, utilizing bullet points and bold for key information.
This approach ensures that your resume stands out to both hiring managers and applicant tracking systems, increasing your chances of success in the job application process.
A Resume That Stands Out Contains Within It:
1. Tailor Your Resume to the Marketing Role
As an example, we’re going to suppose that you’re going for a marketing job, make sure your resume talks directly about the stuff that matters for that job.
Here’s how to do it:
- Talk about your marketing work – Mention any marketing campaigns or projects you’ve been part of. If you can, show how your work helped, like increasing sales or getting more people to visit a website.
- Use the right words – Look at the job ad and see what skills and words they use. Try to use some of these same words in your resume. This could be things like ‘social media’, ‘SEO’, or ‘digital advertising’.
- Show how your skills match – Even if you haven’t done the exact job before, explain how what you’ve done before is similar or can help in this new role.
- Add extra info if it helps – You might want to include a section for skills, a link to your online portfolio, or your LinkedIn profile. Anything that gives them more reason to pick you.
- Keep it short and sweet – Stick to what’s most important for the job you’re applying for. Leave out stuff that’s not related. Focus on why you’re the right person for the job.
By making sure your resume speaks directly to the marketing job you want, you’re showing you’ve got the skills and attention to detail they’re looking for. Follow these tips to help your resume stand out.
2. Design for Impact and Clarity If You Want a Resume That Stands Out
When you’re putting a resume that stands out, you want it to be easy to read and to highlight your best bits. Here’s how to do that:
Keep the design simple, choose easy-to-read fonts like Arial or Calibri, and keep the font size between 10 and 12 points, you can also use space and lines to break up sections, always keep in mind avoiding complicated designs or text boxes.
Make important stuff stand out, bold your job titles, where you worked, and section titles. Use bullet points to list what you did in each job, aiming for 3-5 points per job, and put your top skills and big achievements upfront.
Check for mistakes by looking over your resume for any spelling or grammar mistakes – these can knock you out of the running. Make sure you’re consistent with how you format dates, use fonts, and organize sections.
With a straightforward, clean design that highlights why you’re great for the job, you’ll make it easier for hiring managers to see your value. This can help you stand out from other applicants.
3. Quantify Your Marketing Achievements
When you add numbers to your marketing resume, it helps you stand out. Instead of just saying what you did, use numbers to show how much of a difference you made.
Talk about growth with percentages, for example, you could say “I helped get 35% more people to visit our website in 6 months” or “I helped our Instagram followers grow from 2,000 to 15,000 in a year.” This quickly shows the person reading your resume the big impact you had. Use simple charts if it makes sense, sometimes, a basic chart can show your success in a way that’s easy to understand. Just keep it simple.
Adding numbers to your resume makes it clear what you achieved and makes you look more credible. So, take some time to think about the numbers that show off your success. This could help your resume catch the eye of the hiring manager.
4. Incorporate Keywords for ATS
To help your marketing resume get noticed by both computer programs that sort resumes (called applicant tracking systems or ATS) and the people hiring, it’s smart to use the right keywords. Here’s how to do it in simple steps:
Look at the job posting for keywords
To have a resume that stands out, read the job ad carefully and pick out important skills, tools, tasks, and other keywords mentioned. Then, add these words to your resume in a natural way. This helps make sure your resume doesn’t get overlooked by the ATS.
Talk about skills you can use in many ways
Even if you haven’t done exactly what the job asks for, explain how your skills can be used in this new job. For example, if they want someone who knows Google Analytics and you’ve used a different analytics tool, talk about your overall experience with analytics.
5. Showcase Your Unique Value Proposition
To really make your resume stand out, it’s important to showcase your unique value proposition – the special skills, experience, and perspective you can bring to the role.
Highlight niche skills or knowledge
If you have expertise in a specific software, technique, or industry, feature this prominently. This shows you can hit the ground running.
For example, if you know Tableau data visualization inside-out, bold this skill.
Talk about achievements that set you apart
Go beyond your routine responsibilities to share special projects and accomplishments. Maybe you created a popular marketing campaign from scratch or built an email list from 0 to 5,000 subscribers.
Share a fresh perspective you bring
As a career changer, a parent returning to work, member of an underrepresented group, etc. you likely offer an insightful viewpoint. Briefly explain this to show the unique value you offer.
By thoughtfully highlighting your unique background, abilities, and record of success, you can stand out from the applicant crowd. The right role will likely jump at the specialized value you bring to the table.
Conclusion
To optimize your resume for success, tailor it to each job application by mirroring the language and priorities highlighted in the job ad. Maintain clarity and simplicity with a clean layout, utilizing bold formatting and bullet points to organize information and ensure readability.
Quantify your achievements with numbers to provide concrete evidence of your impact, such as percentage increases or numerical growth. Incorporate relevant keywords, including those from the job ad and industry-specific terms, to enhance visibility to both human recruiters and applicant tracking systems.
Finally, differentiate yourself by showcasing unique skills, accomplishments, accolades, and positive feedback, reinforcing why you are the ideal candidate for the position.
Remember, your resume is like an ad for you. By making sure it matches the job you want and shows off your best bits, you can really stand out. Make a resume that shows you’re the perfect person for the job.
