Expert Strategies for Application and Resume Writing

Struggling with your job application and resume writing? Learn expert strategies to gain a competitive edge and land the job of your dreams!

How To Turn Your CV into The Perfect Resume So You Stand Out And Get Shortlisted!

Maximise the readability of your application and resume writing skills

As a Resume Writer, I see thousands of resumes, cover letters every year. The key to a successful job search is your resume writing needs to be structured in an easy way for the reader to scan quickly and effectively. You need to separate different sections and insert clear section headings. Avoid long paragraphs, use bullet points to break up text into more manageable 'bite size' chunks. Your resume writing needs to be formatted in an eye-catching and uncluttered manner. If the CV is not easy to read, you will not maximise the reader's attention span. Many recruiters do not look further than the first page. Therefore, this page needs to be uniquely engaging.

Eliminate Resume Writing Spelling and Grammar Errors 

Check vigilantly for spelling and grammatical errors. Grammarly is great for proofreading your resume writing and cover letter before sending it off as it picks up far more issues than MS Word does. As a Resume Writer, I use Grammarly every day. There is a free version you can use to improve your job search success. You can also use it to check your LinkedIn profile or selection criteria as well. Click here to give it a go!

Include a Professional Profile, Not an Objective on Your Resume

This section should summarise and emphasise your key attributes, not your future career path. A career objective is an outdated addition as the recruiter wants to know what you can do for them. Quite selfishly, not what they can do for you. Adding a profile instead allows employers to gain an overall sense of your personality/team fit. As a Resume Writer, I know the art to making words flow seamlessly, and how to avoid any cliché or hyperbole. If you need assistance with your resume writing style or job search, email us at info@theperfectresume.com.au.

Include achievements where possible on your CV

Figures, numbers and statistics added to your resume and cover letter will increase your sense of credibility with an employer. If you can include an achievements section or include them instead of responsibilities, then it can make an instant and dramatic difference to the power of your CV, enabling you to distinguish yourself from other candidates and reducing the time required to search for jobs.

Keep your Application and Resume Writing concise and to the point

Recruiters don't want to waste time reading details that are irrelevant to your ability to fulfil the job role. Your resume writing style should be informative – but also concise. Your skills and experiences show an employer how you will perform against your competition. If your content is too brief, this reduces your impact on the initial scan. On the other hand, too many CVs are quite simply too long.

You have six seconds to grab your employer's attention. Therefore, your resume should include quality over quantity. In general, the industry preference for length is between one and three pages. If you are going for an entry-level role, you need one page, an Executive is allowed three. Only include information which will help to sell your qualities.

Tailor your LinkedIn Profile, CV, selection criteria and cover letter to your target audience

If possible, tailor your LinkedIn Profile, resume and cover letter writing to the specific vacancy for which you are applying. Highlighting professional skills increases the strength of your application within the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Usually, these keywords are pulled out under a title for "Key Strengths" or "Professional Skills." Doing so can easily mean the difference between job search success and failure.

Eliminate recruiter biases on your LinkedIn Profile, resume, cover letter and selection criteria

I'll be honest with you. Many people are unknowingly affected by recruiter bias. Also known as job search discrimination, you could have the wrong age, gender, over or under qualification, cultural background, too experienced or not experienced enough. Your CV and selection criteria are open to judgement. While this can be unsettling, recruiter bias is common and applied to reduce the volume of applicants to interview. You may find recruiters will not be upfront about the unsuccessful reasons if you ask them for feedback as technically, they are not allowed to shortlist candidates based on this information. Sadly, it still happens. The Perfect Resume team are skilled in eliminating recruiter biases in your LinkedIn Profile, resume, cover letter or selection criteria. Writing in a manner that avoids drawing attention to certain factors can help you advance your career.

Ensure your resume is Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Compliant

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are currently being used by 75% of employers. With 99% of Fortune 500 companies and a growing number of small and mid-sized businesses now filtering resumes through an ATS before a human looks, it is more important now than ever before to get technically savvy about your job search.

As soon as you hit “APPLY” for a role, your resume will be parsed, ranked, and filtered by an algorithm based on pre-selected keywords. If your resume does not include the specific keywords, your resume will be automatically rejected. The ATS will email you an unsuccessful email, usually set on a delay, so it doesn’t look like a robot refused you! To ensure your application is not rejected, you also must carefully tailor your resume writing to each application to be noticed. The best place to incorporate ATS keywords is in your experience section. The team at The Perfect Resume can provide you with an applicant tracking compliant resume.

Resume Design

Resumes and a matching cover letter with a modern feel are refreshing to look at and will help you stand out from your competitors. If your CV look is quite outdated, your personality will come across to the resume writer as less than optimal. An easy way for you to stand out from your competitors is by applying colour psychology to your resume. A Resume Writer can also help with your LinkedIn Profile. Click here to see designs in our gallery!

How can The Perfect Resume team help you succeed in getting the job you want?

Writing a CV. tailored cover letter, selection criteria or engaging LinkedIn Profile is not rocket science!  As a Resume Writer, I know most of what I have outlined is reasonably simple to take on board. However, I also know that some people don’t have the necessary time to optimise their job search, English skills or motivational effort to make your resume a document that helps you stand out from others. Currently, you have a 2.6% chance of being shortlisted for an interview. The Perfect Resume team can raise this to a 76% chance by improving your application and eliminating the known recruiter biases.  If you would like assistance to stand out from the other candidates, click here to view our different resumes packages.