Make Your Resume Pop: Timeless Tips - Get Noticed!

Do you know how to make your resume stand out from the crowd?

Finding a new job can be tough, tedious, and frustrating, especially in today’s job market. Most job openings attract dozens or even hundreds of applications. These applications flood the desks and inboxes of employers, who are then tasked with sorting through that influx of resumes to locate the best candidates for the position. To get noticed as a job seeker, you need to know how to make your resume stand out from the competition.

In this guide, we’ll explain why it’s so important to learn how to make a good resume and provide you with tips you can use today to help your resume get noticed by prospective employers. If your resume isn’t already capturing hiring managers’ attention, then this article is for you!

Why you need to know how to make your resume stand out

Have you ever wondered how hiring managers decide which resumes are rejected and which candidates get invited to job interviews? If you imagined that those hiring managers carefully read every word of each submitted resume, think again. The fact is that most employers spend mere seconds skimming each application. They simply don’t have time to read them all.

So, what does that mean for you?

It’s simple: you need to find a way to help your resume earn extra attention. Your qualifications need to pop off the page to give hiring managers a reason to do more than just skim your resume. To do that, your resume narrative needs to be tailored to the job, aligned with the company’s needs, and focused on the value that you can offer as a new hire.

Writing for two audiences: the ATS and hiring managers

Every resume needs to be written with two audiences in mind. Of course, the primary audience that most job seekers think about is the human hiring manager, who will review their resume and decide whether to offer them an interview. The problem is there’s another audience that often determines whether the hiring manager even sees your resume. It’s called an applicant tracking system, or ATS.

ATS are automated screening programs that are used to eliminate unqualified applicants. These programs scan each resume to search for relevant keywords the employer is using to judge each candidate’s qualifications. If your resume isn’t written to get past those screenings, chances are that employers will never actually get a chance to read it.

To help your resume stand out from the crowd, it’s important to tailor it to both of your audiences. Not only should it be easy to read for the human eye, but it should also have the keywords an ATS is scanning for. The good news is that there are some simple tips you can use to satisfy the machines and any humans tasked with reviewing your resume submission.

Let’s go over some of the “can’t miss tricks” to getting your resume past the screening systems while keeping it attractive enough to warrant attention after it reaches the hiring manager’s desk.

How to make your resume stand out: essential tips

Below, we’ve compiled some of the most effective tips you can use to beat the ATS and make sure your potential employer will be able to find all the important information you want them to see.

1. Align your resume with the job posting

One of the easiest ways to create a resume that satisfies the automated screening and human hiring managers is to align it with the job posting and role description. Those job descriptions typically include skill-based keywords that an ATS will be looking for during its scan. By identifying those key qualifications – and including them within your resume – you can increase your chances of getting past the automated screening.

It’s also a good idea to learn as much about the company as you can. Identify its mission, culture, values, and any additional details about the role that you can find. This information can help you select skills, experiences, and achievements that present you as the best candidate for the job – and a great fit for the company and its team.

2. Separate information into distinct sections

No matter how qualified you may be, it won’t matter if employers struggle to find the information they’re looking for. It’s critical to organize your resume details in a way that makes the document as easy to read as possible.

That’s why you should separate your resume text into clearly labeled sections so potential employers can quickly scan the document and find the information that’s most important to them. Each of the main sections will have its own heading to help employers easily scan your resume. Those headers will also help the ATS, which can use section headings to parse your information.

To simplify things, you should use a clear and concise structure. The sections on your resume should include:

Your contact information
A resume headline with the job title of the position you’re seeking
A resume profile paragraph
Your core competencies or skills
Professional experience
Education

Note that the first three sections do not need heading titles to identify them as distinct sections. The last three, as well as any additional resume sections, should all have heading titles to identify their content.

3. Create a dynamic resume headline

If you really want your resume to pop and grab your reader’s attention, include a resume headline that contains the job title you’re seeking and some captivating text that differentiates you from the crowd. In other words, don’t just write a job title like “Marketing Manager.” Instead, create a more compelling headline like:

Dynamic Marketing Manager and Proven Brand Development Expert

Obviously, that sample headline is going to earn more attention than a dull recitation of your desired job title. In just one line, this candidate has included their job title, an adjective that describes their approach to the job, and some language that hints at their area of special expertise. For most hiring managers, a headline like this will be enough to motivate them to dig deeper into the resume.

Related reading: 30+ Resume Headline Examples (2024 Update)

4. Use your resume profile as an elevator pitch

Below your headline, you should include a brief, three to five-sentence resume profile. Your best option may be a resume summary that highlights your job title, years of experience, and key skill qualifications. You should also include one or two measurable achievements that demonstrate your unique value proposition. For example:

Results-driven Marketing Manager with 8 years of experience in brand development, market expansion, team development, and leadership. Proven results in campaign development, implementation, and execution, client engagement, and revenue generation. Led more than 80 successful client campaigns valued at over $250 million.

Remember, the goal here is to create a compelling summary of your resume qualifications. And since it’s a summation of your resume, it’s often easier to write this section last – so you know which skills and achievements you want to focus on to gain your reader’s interest. If you can quickly highlight those core qualifications in a way that screams, “This candidate offers real value,” then you’ll likely inspire the hiring manager to want to learn more about you.

Related reading: Understanding and Creating a Resume Profile

5. Include the right skills

The skill section may sound easy – you’re just making a list of things that you’re able to do particularly well. Everyone knows what they’re good at, right? Not quite.

You’ll need to include both hard and soft skills in your resume. Hard skills are easy to understand since they include all the measurable skills you need to know to perform your duties – like engineering abilities, computer skills, or marketing concepts and strategies.

Soft skills are sometimes more difficult to identify because they are hard to quantify, but they can include abilities like communication, conflict resolution, analytical thinking, and negotiation.

Pay attention to job descriptions and adjust your resume skills to better match the needs of the position. If the role is particularly technical, weigh your skill section towards your applicable hard skills. If the role is something like sales or account management, make sure to include key soft skills like communication or organization.

Your skills section is the best place to make sure you match your resume’s keywords with the keywords required by the ATS. For ideas on what skills employers are looking for, check out this post on the best skills to put on your resume.

6. Focus on value in your work experience section

Your professional work history is one of the best places to really showcase your value as an employee. As you create this section, follow these simple steps:

List each job title, along with the company name, its location, and your dates of employment.
Below each of these job listings, you should include four to six bullet point statements describing your major achievements in that role.
Use real numbers to demonstrate how your actions created real value for those employers.

For example:

ABC Corp. – 2018 to 2024

Marketing Manager

Created and led marketing initiatives that raised product brand awareness by 24%
Implemented client online rebranding campaign that increased site traffic by 500%, customer engagement by 148%, and company revenues by 22%
Reorganized lead generation processes, resulting in a 40% increase in qualified leads and 30% increase in conversions
Successfully analyzed competitor online strategies, using insights to optimize ABC Corp digital campaigns and increase market share by 18%

You’ll probably notice that these achievements don’t include any mention of the job’s duties or responsibilities – and with good reason. Part of knowing how to make your resume stand out is being able to put yourself in the employer’s shoes.

Do they want to read some boring story about your job responsibilities? No!

They already know that you had duties to perform. When they skim your resume, they want to see how your performance of those duties provided positive results for past employers.

7. Make your resume visually appealing

You should also focus on making your resume aesthetically pleasing. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you should include multiple colors or fancy fonts in a vain attempt to showcase your style. Instead, it just means that you need to pay attention to the so-called “little things” – like using the right font, limiting the resume’s length, and keeping your structure simple and easy to read.

There’s been a lot of chatter recently about the importance of the length of your resume. Traditionally, resumes were supposed to be one page, no exceptions. Whether you were a fresh college graduate or a seasoned CEO, you were expected to limit your resume to one page.

With the advent of ATS systems, you need two pages to include all the relevant keywords they’re scanning for. Whether you’re over or under that target, this article on resume length will help you adjust your content.

As for fonts, skip the fancy ones and opt for a simple, clean font like Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Helvetica. Make sure that you use font sizes that are no smaller than 10 points and no bigger than 14. For more details and ideas about using fonts in your resume, check out the following post:

Finally, a word about color choices. As a rule, you can’t go wrong with black and white – as in, black text and white background on the page. For most jobs, you should probably avoid adding any other colors since that could distract employers from the content on the page. Notable exceptions to this rule include any jobs involving design or other creative skills – in which case, incorporating some color may help to showcase your creativity.

8. Include a cover letter

It’s also a good idea to include a cover letter. These days, many employers don’t include a cover letter requirement in their application instructions, so a lot of job seekers don’t bother to send one. If you want to stand out from the crowd, make sure that you get in the habit of sending a cover letter along with every resume you submit.

If you’re wondering what to include in a 2024 cover letter, check out this helpful post: What Does a Great Cover Letter Look Like in 2024?

9. Proofread your resume, and then proofread it again

Put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager. How interested would you be in reading a resume that contains misspellings, poor grammar, and other easily preventable errors? If you’re honest with yourself, you know that you’d probably toss that resume to the side as soon as you saw the first mistake. Well, most hiring managers feel the same way – and for good reason.

The fact is that resume mistakes are a huge turnoff for employers and are almost always interpreted in the worst possible way. Employers who see errors in your resume often assume that you’re inattentive to detail, have poor communication skills, or don’t take the position seriously enough to present an error-free application.

To avoid that negative perception, you should always spend time proofreading your resume and cover letters. Review it with a spell check program, and then conduct several reviews manually.

Look for misspellings, incorrect word choices, confusing grammatical construction, and any mistakes in the information you provided. It’s also wise to have someone else review it, too.

For job search success, learn how to make your resume stand out!

Learning how to make your resume stand out is more complicated than it’s ever been. To succeed and earn the right attention from decision-makers, you need to be able to please both the ATS and human hiring managers. The good news is that you can learn how to create a compelling resume that achieves those twin goals. And that’s the best way to give yourself the chance you need to secure an interview and land your next job offer!

Good luck with your job search!

Still not sure how to make your resume stand out to employers? Get your free resume review from our team of experts today and we’ll help you supercharge your job search efforts and advance your career!