When it comes to resumes it can be really challenging to write content that you feel accurately describes your experience.

Do I include a photo?

Should I include an objective?

Does my experience look fat in this format?

What font should I use that best brings out my achievements?

There is a myriad of advice out there for writing a resume and quite often each article your read contradicts the one you just read previously.

We certainly don’t propose to have all the answers to your resume angst; however, we can tell you what we look for in a resume and equally as important, what we are seeing as some of the standout resumes recently.

Above all we are seeing people condensing their resume as best they can, more often than not to be on 1 page. Now this can be challenging if you have a wealth of extended experience, but there is some seriously good use of columns out there! We are not talking about the variety commonly shown in documentaries on Roman architecture, more about the function in Microsoft word that allows you to split the page in two. This will effectively give you two pages for one! And that can only be a good thing.

We are seeing an increasing number of applicants split there resume page on a word document and then use a different colour for one side of the columns, usually blue and white. They can then highlight their experience on the right side and other relevant items such as qualifications and contact details on the left.

A number of resourceful people have scanned their business cards from their roles as their company and job description titles and realistically it looks great whilst adding serious credibility to their resume. We are not saying this is for everyone but we are saying it did impress us.

So now we get to the part where we look at what is a resume really for? In our opinion it is your introduction (and door opener) to the hiring process. It is your first impression that either gets you to the interview stage or leads you to the automated email of being unsuccessful. At Salexo we think this is important for you to realise. You can only be considered for a job opportunity if you get to an interview. The impression of your resume is realistically scanned in under 5 seconds by a company, less if you include AI and screening algorithms.

SO! – How do you get noticed? How do you maximise your chance of getting to that interview? (which is what this is all about!)

Find a way to tell us (and therefore the employers) why you are awesome. We want to know your achievements in detail and what makes your application better that others.

Choose a tasteful font, we are all a bit over times new roman.

Split that page into columns (hey all the cool kids are doing it so why not?)

Be concise, and make sure you highlight what you have learnt from each role.

If you have a short stint of employment, embrace it, explain it and then tell us how you have grown from it. (give a reason for leaving each short stint or each role if you want so that we understand rather than make assumptions)

Above all – be honest. Be factual. Make sure your resume is consistent and matches to your LinkedIn profile.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, make one. In the current market it’s about being seen and being compatible to the digital world that we live in.

For us, it is amazing how many truly phenomenal sales executives we come across who have resumes that simply do not do them justice. We are here to help however we can and each of our consultants are up to date with the latest resume trends.

After all we view over 100 resumes a day, we see the amazing, the scary and the completely unbelievable descriptions each and every time we sit down to look at our applicants.

Make your resume standout! For the right reasons! Talk to us about what needs to be done to ensure you get the interview.