How to Catch the Eye of an Employer with Your Resume

Illustration by Veronika Veshkina via Dribbble

Many individuals are on the verge of searching for jobs; they all apply by sending resumes. Imagine if a company announces two vacant positions; how many applications do you expect? There will be more, the company may have assigned three individuals to be the panelist.

The three guys will not be able to read everything written on every CV; therefore, if the applicants are about fifty. Then they will be looking at the relevant CVs only; if yours has some unnecessary information and poor formatting, you will miss out on this.

You need to send a resume templates that contains what the employer is looking for. In this post, I will show you how you can create an eye-catching resume.

Concentrate on the Relevant Achievements

As you highlight some of your achievements, you must prioritize significant accomplishments in every role that you took. Please make sure they are at the top of the bullet list.

Ensure they are well organized for easy follow-ups. Avoid listing more than five achievements in each role when listing the accomplishment.

You cannot achieve everything in a single role; therefore, you should pick the ones that you are proud of and the ones that you think can wow the potential employer. The goal is to demonstrate that you are an asset to an organization, and you can add value.

Some people try to list all their achievements; this is not the best way to go about it. It would be best if you had a section for each role. Also, remember to give more details about the impact of your achievement.

Use Keywords

Please read the job description carefully, and use the keywords in your Resume. Keywords are necessary, especially if the CV is scanned by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Using the required keywords, your Resume can get through the system’s filters.

If the Resume is scanned manually by the employer, kindly add the keywords to it. Whenever the recruiters see the keywords, they will see you as an individual with the right skills they are looking for, which makes them more interested in reading your CV.

Consider the Resume’s Length

The recommended length of a CV usually is one page, but this varies with your work experience. If you have a long history, you can write at most two pages; here, you must be creative and include what is needed.

But ideally, you must ensure you have a one-page resume and avoid so much information. The recruiter is not interested in long stories, give them what they want, and you will get their attention.

Concentrate on What You Write at the Top of the Resume

An employer will always read the information on the top of the CV; if it is not appealing, you will not get their attention. Whatever you include on the top, be sure it will be eye-catching.

You can be creative in the way you include your headlines, have some information in bullet form, and they should be straightforward.

If the employer is impressed with what they see at the top, they will want to read further.

Highlight Your Skills

Highlighting your skills is one way of getting the employer’s attention. You need to demonstrate that you have the right skills for the job. One way of doing this is by including a skills section on your Resume.

In the skills section, you must include the skills that are relevant to the job you are applying for. Ensure you use the right keywords.

If you have certifications that are relevant to the job, you can include them in the skills section.

Use the Right Format

Formatting is the first thing the recruiter will always look at; if you have presented a poorly formatted resume, expect no miracles. Ensure your CV is easy to read and follow and use the correct font and sizes.

If the employer is using an ATS, a poorly formatted Resume might not get through the system. The system was designed in a way that it can only read specific font types and sizes. So, if you use a different font type or size, there is a possibility it will not get through.

Therefore, when sending a Resume, make sure it is in the right format, and it can get through an ATS.

Create a Professional Email Address

When sending a Resume, make sure the email address is professional. The first impression matters a lot; if the company sees an unprofessional email address, they might think you are not serious about working with them.

The email address should be your name or a combination of your name and some other professional words. For example, if your name is Mark, you can use Mark@gmail.com, Markprofessional@gmail.com, Markresume@gmail.com, etc.

If you are using an email address that is not professional, I advise you to create a new one before applying for any job. Creating a new email address is not difficult; it is something you can do within five minutes.

After you are done writing your resume, take some time and read it again. Check for grammar and spelling mistakes and correct them. It would help if you also sent your CV to someone else, preferably someone who is good at proofreading, for a second opinion.

If you are not confident with your proofreading skills, you can use some online tools to help you. There are many free online proofreading tools you can use.

Conclusion

Every time you apply for any given job, always keep in mind that the recruiter has limited time to check the resumes. Therefore, to get their attention, you will have to include what they are looking for in an individual.

The points highlighted above are some of the things you need to do to catch the employer’s attention with your Resume. If you can do all these things, I am confident you will get the job you are applying for.