5 Resume Tips You Didn’t Know You Needed (Just Like China’s New Flavours of Oreo)

Okay so if you’ve heard about the new flavours of Oreo, then it may be hard to define them as something you would ‘need’ per se. But still, they’re interesting and not what you would probably expect.

At the end of August, Oreo announced new flavours being released in China, the most shocking being Wasabi flavour and Hot Wing flavour. What a weird and wonderful world we live in, hey?

You know what else can be weird and wonderful? Resume advice! (Yep, there’s the careers link). So here’s a few bits of advice you may not have heard before, which can help you make your resume pretty brill’.

Interests and hobbies (when they’re relevant)

Look you shouldn’t leave them in their all the time, but if they’re relevant to the job then chuck ‘em in!

Think of things like a blog, or photography Instagram, or even a YouTube channel. Something that can be related back to the role you’re applying for and support some of the skills they’re looking for.

Be slightly sneaky

Okay this is like the very lowest levels of sneak, but if you’ve got any gaps in your resume where you weren’t working, don’t mention the month you started and finish each job – just use the year.

If it comes up, obviously be honest about it, but you don’t need to advertise any gaps before you even make a face-to-face first impression.

Make it look b-e-a-utiful

If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: your resume needs to look mighty fine. Recruiters view heaps of resumes each week, and for yours to stand out from the crowd (in a good way) it’s got to be pretty spesh.

Pay attention to the minor details like spacing, colour, and font size, and try to make each point visually consistent so it fits in with the others around it.

Use numbers rather than writing out words

I know you’re trying to be fancy but avoid spelling out numbers where you can. Use the numerical symbols instead so they’re easier to draw out and the meaning can be grasped that much quicker when you’re skimming it. Because recruiters do that a lot; they skim.

Look at your core words

What are the key skills the job ad calls for, and have you referenced them enough throughout your application?

An easy way to see which core words you’ve used the most is through a word cloud (thanks to one of our awesome Careers Consultants for the tip). There are heaps of word cloud generators online that you can copy-paste your resume into, and they’ll make the terms you use the most often larger than the rest. That way, you can make sure you’ve properly ensure that you’ve addressed the criteria!

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay