17 Ways to Improve your Resume in 5 minutes or Less

When we start applying to jobs, the first thing we tend to do is start by updating our resume. But, be honest, have you ever fallen into the resume improvement “blackhole of doom?”

I certainly have.

When I was applying to jobs, I sent out hundreds of applications. Then, day after day, I would wake up to zero responses in my inbox. 

Every time I sent out an application and didn’t receive a response, I would think, “it must be my resume! Maybe I can improve my resume if I just…”

Most of us spend HOURS trying to improve our resumes by tweaking them over and over again. But, the truth is that most resumes can be improved in a matter of minutes, as long as you know what changes you need to make.

That’s why today I’ve invited career coach and resume expert, Anda Lainez, to share her top 17 resume improvements she recommends to her clients.

So, without further adieu, here’s Anda!

Thanks Bogdan! So let’s jump right in.

Here are 17 resume improvements that you can do and each should take you 5 minutes or less:

1. Adding descriptions to your jobs

Recruiters hate having to look up the company you worked at to find out what they did. Add a simple description under the job to explain why that company is relevant.

2. Disguising your shorter periods of employment

If you worked at a company for 8 months for instance, you can disguise this by only adding the years to your resume. So, instead of writing “Sept 2019-Mar 2020” you can change it to “2019-2020.” This makes it look like you were there longer and it's a great way to overcome some of your career gaps.

3. Make your resume look customized to the role

Career coach Jessica Hernandez has a great tip on how to make your resume seem more tailored to the role: just add the job title to the top of the resume. If you’re applying to a Digital Marketing Manager job, for example, add “Digital Marketing Manager” to the very top of your resume. This makes it stand out as not just another generic resume.

4. Test your bullet points originality

To test your bullet point originality ask yourself, “could someone write this exact same bullet point?” If the answer is yes, it’s probably not very original. For example, the bullet point, “Managed digital marketing budgets” could be written by anyone. Try to add specificity to make your bullet points stand out. 

 5. List more hard skills and less soft skills

Most resumes I see include way too many soft skills, and not enough hard skills. Hard skills refer to job-related abilities, and soft skills refer to personal attributes. Hard skills tend to prove that you can provide more value since they’re easier to identify and measure, where soft skills are more intangible. I recommend a ratio of 3:1, for every three hard skills, include 1 soft skill. Optimizing the skills section to reflect more job-related abilities, can drastically improve your resume and make it more effective in your job search. 

Example of skills section for a professional in the marketing industry: 

Client Acquisition Management (hard skill)

SEO Blogging (hard skill)

Campaign Management (hard skill)

Team Leadership (soft skill) 

 6. Quantify achievement-based bullets with numbers

Recruiters and hiring managers look for proof that you can make things happen in your new role, and listing numbers on your resume is an easy and great way to show it. Numbers are powerful tools that can make your resume more effective.

Here's a video by career coach, Gillian Kelly, that shows a great way to find numbers you can add to your resume:

7. Avoid third person 

Your resume should be written in first person and withhold personal pronouns. This helps avoid the "I" problem of having "I" written dozens of times all across your resume.

Tip: Think of including an implied “I” before the first word of each sentence. 

8. Put your job title first, not the company 

We believe that what you did is more important than where you worked (unless you worked for a big company like Apple or Google). Hiring managers and recruiters look for job titles to determine whether you’re qualified for the job or not. 

9. Start each bullet with a success verb 

Spearheaded, boosted, grew, improved…these are all great words you can use to improve your resume and demonstrate the value and success you can bring to the table. Start each bullet point with an action verb or success verb to prove that you are able to achieve an outcome.

10. Upload your resume as a PDF, not a Word document 

Word documents never look the same on every computer. To maintain your formatting and make sure it looks the same on every computer, convert your Word document to PDF before submitting it online. 

11. Avoid long paragraphs 

Clear and easy-to-read resumes are the best. A key feature of readability is sentence length. The longer your sentences are, the harder they’re to read and understand. One way to check your sentences is by using the “and” rule: Each sentence should have no more than one “and” in it.

12. Remove old/non-relevant positions 

Another easy way to create an effective resume is by removing positions not relevant to your target jobs, and positions that are more than 15-20 years old. Employers mainly care about what you did in the last 10 years. For example, if you’re targeting marketing positions, but your work history also includes jobs like Uber driver, assistant, server, etc., the easiest way to streamline your work history is to only include relevant roles. 

13. Add additional sections to your resume 

If you received any awards, certifications, or honors, you could quickly create a section to reflect these to add more value to your resume. Also, if you’ve written any publications, attended conferences, or participated in any volunteer work. Make sure to choose a section that best reflects the professional things you’ve done that are also relevant to your field.  

Tip: There are some sections that no longer need to be put on a resume, such as references. Don’t write “References available upon request”. Hiring managers know they can ask you for these. 

14. Add a resume headline at the top of your resume 

A resume headline is a brief sentence that sits at the top of your resume showcasing your most impressive skills. The goal with the headline is to make a great first impression. 

Bogdan has a super detailed article on how to write a great resume headline here. 

Essentially you want to make sure your resume headline is eye-catching, but isn't too wordy.

Here is an example of what kind of headline you should NOT write: “Accomplished leader able to help companies develop business solutions, embrace technology growth opportunities, and reduce costs through state-of-the-art technology migrations and implementations.”

This is far too wordy and doesn't really stand out from other applicants.

Here is an example of a better resume headline:

15. Mix up your word use 

Your goal when writing your resume should be to entice the reader to continue reading. If every bullet starts with “managed”, or “responsible for”, the reader will get bored quickly and probably move on to the next resume. Instead use a variety of words to mix it up. 

Tip: Try to avoid words such as “hardworking, “successfully”, “on-time”, “expert”, “accomplished”, etc. These are overused and don’t show much of what you’ve accomplished. 

16. Get past the Applicant Tracking System 

A quick and easy way to improve your resume is by adding a few keywords from the job posting you plan to use your resume for. Most employers nowadays use a software to sort through thousands of job applications and determine which candidate is best fit for the job. These systems search for specific keywords relevant to the position they’re hiring for. 

Despite what you may have heard, these systems are not all that difficult to overcome. You can learn how to beat applicant tracking systems in our full guide here.

Tip: Use TagCrowd to simply copy and paste the job description into the word art program and click “Visualize”. The words that appear in the box, are the keywords found most commonly throughout the job description. You can sprinkle some of these in the “skills” section, “career summary”, or your “work history”. 

17. Separate your duties from achievements  

Use a combination of paragraphs and bullets in the work history. Use a paragraph to describe your duties and bullets to describe your achievements. This formatting strategy can help you stand out since achievements are what set you apart from other candidates with similar duties.  

Next Steps

These 17 resume improvements are very powerful when used together. If you would like help implementing any of these steps don’t hesitate to reach out to me 🙂

To learn more about me and what I do, visit my website here.

www.cultivate-pro.com

Or sign up for Bogdan's great video courses (they're free) which have some excellent quick-start guides to help you get started on your resume improvements. Just enter your email below and they'll automatically be sent to you.