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How to Make Your Resume Better Than the Next Guy’s

A Professional Tip Brought to You By: Deacon Recruiting & Deacon Professional Services

It is crucial that your resume includes industry-standard keywords. If you are a Tax Accountant, those words had better be in your resume at least once or twice. Depending on the particular job that you are applying for, you’ll absolutely want to work in some of the keywords of the job description. For example, if a job requires you to have experience in “X, Y, Z,” then “X, Y, Z,” had better be written in your resume (if you actually do have that experience, that is!)

You’ve likely been told to include as many buzzwords in your resume as you can. Terms like: “go-getter, outside-the-box thinker, motivated” are over-used and can actually leave a sour taste with the hiring manager or recruiter. These words do not express what you’ve done. With the amount of times that recruiters and hiring managers have read these words on a resume, you need to differentiate yourself. There are ways to express these ideas without using meaningless words.

Opt for terms that do express what you’ve done and achieved. Rather than saying you are an “outside-the-box thinker” find an example to back up your claim. Try, “experience with proposing and implementing new ideas to streamline company processes.” Then, be prepared to discuss a specific situation where you did just that. Instead of saying you are motivated and a “go-getter,” bring it in to specifics. “Excelled in a metrics-driven environment with 75% of month’s meeting or exceeding goal.”

Rather than dedicating an entire section of your resume to a list of soft skills, opt for a list of key accomplishments. Use this to highlight how you demonstrated your skills and what you achieved with them. Potential employers are not inclined to take you at your word when you say you are excellent at planning and organizing, they want you to prove it. Tell them about an event that you planned from start-to-finish and the final outcome of the event.

Most importantly, have confidence in your skills. Job-hunting is not the time to downplay your awesome skillset.

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