This Employer Took Time Out of Their Day to Give Job Seekers Resume Tips and They’re Awesome.

In a recent post on Tumblr, user queendread was sick of sifting through resumes and cover letters. They quickly came up with a list of 10 things you should and shouldn’t do on your resume and cover letter and posted it to Tumblr. The list is extremely valuable for job seekers like you because it comes directly from the people you’re trying to convince to hire you! Chances are if you’re doing any of the things on this list, you may be getting passed up by employers. To see the full post, click here. For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on three key points this employer made that are super important when it comes to resumes and cover letters.

1. It’s the technical stuff that employers can see

With most people applying for jobs online, be it through email or an applicant tracking system (ATS), most job seekers are building their resume/CV/cover letter on their computer. They can be created in multiple word processors and most importantly, each one has a file name. Sometimes the nitty gritty details about format and file names matter!

From the employer: “Even if you apply online, I can see the filename you used for your CV. Filenames that don’t include YOUR name are annoying. Filenames like ‘CV - media’ tell me that you’ve got several CVs you send off depending on the kind of job advertised and that you probably didn’t tailor it for this position. ‘[Full name] CV’ is best.”

Additionally, you may create your file in Microsoft Word or some other word processor. Here's the downside to sending the file in that format: the employer can see every change you’ve ever made to the document. Use a PDF so the employer can easily pull up the document and only see the information you’ve put on the page and nothing about the document's history. “PDFs are far more professional looking and clean and mean that I can’t make any (unconscious or not) decisions about you based on information about the file.”

2. Employers don’t have a lot of time

This employer had 50+ applications on file to go through. When an employer is looking for a new hire, chances are they’re doing it on their own time, and they don’t want to spend a lot of time reading through your 5-page resume. “I will skim your CV. If you have a bunch of bullet points, make every one of them count. Make the first one the best one. If it’s not interesting to you, it’s probably not interesting to me. I’m overworked and tired. Make my job easy.”

Make sure you consolidate and really focus on the skills and experiences that are relevant to the job.

Chances are if your resume is longer than 1 page, it’s too long. If you have lots of experience under your belt, then you can safely make your resume two pages. But anything longer than that an employer won’t read and they will lose interest fast. If this employer admits to skimming your CV, chances are they’ll be skimming your resume too. Make sure you consolidate and really focus on the skills and experiences that are relevant to the job.

3. How do I make myself sound good on paper?

It takes a little bit of thinking, writing, and rewriting, but you can do it! Employers want to hire someone who is clearly a good fit for the job. If you have experience on your resume/CV/cover letter that doesn't apply to the position, they aren’t going to consider you. So how do you highlight those things? This employer had a few suggestions:

“‘I work well in a team or individually’ okay cool, you and everyone else. If the job means you’ll be part of a big team, talk about how much you love teamwork and how collaborating with people is the best way to solve problems. If the job requires lots of independence, talk about how you are great at taking direction and running with it, and how you have the confidence to follow your own ideas and seek out the insight of others when necessary. I am profoundly uninterested in cookie-cutter statements. I want to know how you actually work, not how a teacher once told you you should work.

For an entry-level role, tell me how you’re looking forward to growing and developing and learning as much as you can. I will hire genuine enthusiasm and drive over cherry-picked skills any day.

Take it from this employer: the smallest of details on your resume matters the most when it comes to standing out on a job application. The bottom line: if you aren’t willing to put effort into your documents and prove to the hiring manager you want the job, then they aren’t going to consider you for the position. Put in a little bit of extra time researching the company so you can adjust your resume and cover letter accordingly. Then you'll definitely stand out.