After having spent a couple of years in your new job, you suddenly realize that you have been handling the same responsibilities these last two years. You have not learned anything new, have had no new responsibilities, there is no scope of learning anything new for another year or two. Is this what you really wanted?
You want to grow, learn more, face a new challenge, gain more experience!
You go home and open your laptop to have a look at your CV and you suddenly realize that your CV still has your old residential address, no updated work experience, or training. Even your old contact number is unchanged. You quickly decide that you need to update your new skills and your new work experience along with all other information. Is this situation familiar to you?
Your CV must be updated to impress employers. Hiring managers only care about your value addition as a candidate.
Below are three things employers will notice immediately when they read your resume:
1. A Professionally Formatted CV
Employers want to know how much time and effort you have taken to plan, prepare and work on your CV. How your CV looks, is important. The margin, space, and paragraph alignments, the text size and font consistency are very very important. Even the choice of words makes a difference. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are a poor reflection of your effort. A professional photo versus a photograph used in your visa or passport can impact the effectiveness of your profile. CVs that are over 3 pages (best to keep to 2 pages maximum) may be a touch lengthy. One Page job responsibilities are boring and too descriptive. Using professionally formatted CVs is the most important aspect of applying for a job. Optimize your CV for the most suitable job "keywords".
2. Career Progression.
Your CV must be a progressive CV to stand out. Hiring managers will value it more. This helps them identify the reason why you are applying for the position and whether you would make a good fit for the role.
A progressive career must highlight your achievements over your job responsibilities. Try and identify at least 2 achievements per position and highlight them in your CV. Job titles lead the employer to understand where you are and how you will be, going forward.
3. Education
Along with work experience, a constant learning, training, and courses is very important. If your last education qualification was in 2010, it only shows that you do not give enough importance to education, because if you did, you would make time even in the most hectic schedules. "I did not find time because I work 24/7", means little and shows poor time management skills. A constant updating of your education every 2 years is imperative, even if it means you have to sleep less.
Include links to your personal domain or online portfolio, Twitter handle, and a link to your LinkedIn profile. This will make it easier for employers to learn about how you add value to your industry and have created a professional voice online.
Most hiring managers will digest this information in less than 20 seconds. By following these tips, you will tackle the basic fundamentals of a stand-out resume that will get you noticed by employers in a positive way.