Career Advice

Easy resume revisions that can level up your job search

Use these recruiter-approved tactics to improve your resume and stand out in your job search.

December 11, 2023 6 minute read

You spend a lot of time scouring job postings and applying for jobs, but you keep coming up empty. It’s discouraging to put so much effort into your job search and still be searching!

Maybe it’s time to give your resume a makeover. Use these tried-and-true strategies to improve your resume—now and in the future.

Key takeaways

Use data to quantify your accomplishments
Make updating your resume a regular practice
Replace your objective with a summary statement to help you stand out from the crowd
Keep the visual design simple and streamlined
Always proofread for spelling, grammar, and typos

Include a summary statement to show your value

Not so long ago, it was common practice to include an objective section at the top of your resume. A resume objective might look something like this:

Motivated and hardworking individual looking to help [company] by leveraging [technical skills]. Excellent [soft skill or position] who will add value to [type of company or team.]

Objective statements have become passé. They’re a little bland, a little formulaic. They tend to focus on what you want instead of what you can offer.

As they review job applicants, employers aren’t looking only to add the requisite skills when they hire for a role. They are looking for a person who’s going to bring something unique to their company.

Enter the summary statement. Done well, a summary statement will make your resume stand out.

Fidelity Talent Acquisition Partner Kimberly describes a summary statement this way:

A summary statement tells a recruiter who you are. You’re talking to me about what makes you unique in the workplace. If I hire you, what am I getting? What are you passionate about?

Kimberly says that even the adjectives someone uses to describe themselves can reveal a lot. For example, “enthusiastic and energetic” says something very different from “pragmatic and data-oriented.”

A good summary statement says something like:

Resourceful and efficient [role] specializing in [area of expertise] Recently achieved [specific accomplishments including numbers and percentages] Committed to building [vision of successful results]

It’s a subtle but important shift. If your resume doesn’t have a summary statement, add one. This small addition can make recruiters sit up and take notice.

TopResume

Done well, a summary statement will make your resume stand out.

Commit to regular resume updates

“Keep your resume up to date—you never know when you’ll need it.” You’ve probably heard this advice before. It’s good advice, but it’s hard to follow when you’re gainfully employed. If you’re like most of us, as soon as you land a job, your resume starts collecting dust until you start another job search.

Kimberly echoes this advice. She says of all the resume strategies she can offer to job seekers, this is the most important one.

Imagine this scenario. You’re not actively looking for work, but you hear about a dream job. You haven’t kept your resume up to date. That means you haven’t included new information about your current job. This is bad news on two fronts:

If you rush to update your resume to apply for the job, you won’t have time to proofread and make corrections. Spelling and grammar mistakes can land your resume in the trash.
It’s very hard to remember all the things you should include when you’re under pressure. Are you going to remember the impressive work you did on that project two years ago? The one that matches so well with the dream job? If not, you miss out on showcasing your noteworthy skills.

A better alternative

Keep your resume up to date by tying it to something you’ll remember to do. Kimberly uses her own quarterly review to prompt her to revise and update her resume. As she’s compiling notes for her quarterly review, she reflects on her work. She assesses the results of her work and the skills she gained. Kimberly says, “While it’s still fresh in my mind, I’m adding that as a bullet on my resume.”

If performance reviews aren’t part of your work life, plug some time into your personal calendar for this practice. When that dream job pops up unexpectedly, you’ll be ready.

Match the visual design to current industry standards

Design trends come and go—and resumes are no different. If it’s been a couple of years since you formatted your resume, you may be due for a new and improved format. Research recent resume samples to see if yours still looks current.

Particularly, look for samples in your industry or for your role. For example, financial services companies expect to see a streamlined layout. Graphic design companies are going to look for something more creative.

Some other tips to keep in mind:

Keep fonts consistent. Using more than two styles of fonts (one for headings, one for the rest of the text) looks disjointed.
Proofread for spelling and grammar. Use spellcheck or ask a friend to review your writing. Don’t let careless mistakes take you out of the running.
Edit your writing to reduce wordiness. If you can say it in fewer words, do so. Short sentences are easier to read and get right to the point.
Use boldfaced type for headings to highlight education and job experience.
Keep your resume to 1-2 pages maximum.

Know the pitfalls of using different colors on your resume. While it may look visually appealing to you:

If the color is too light, people may have a hard time reading it.
Text written over a block of color can be difficult to read.

Some people are colorblind and may not be able to distinguish certain types of colored text.

Indeed

Quantifying your accomplishments means using data to show off your skills and achievements.

Quantify your accomplishments

Quantifying your accomplishments means using data to show off your skills and achievements.

At first glance, this advice seems slanted towards certain roles—sales, for example, or lead generation. However, many roles lend themselves to sharing quantifiable results. You just need to think about it differently.

Here are a few examples of quantifiable results from different careers:

Teacher: Taught classes ranging from 17-30 students, carried out 60 parent-teacher conferences on average each year.

Restaurant waitstaff: Regularly served over 200 customers per week, resulting in weekly sales of $6,000.

Retail worker: Assisted over 100 customers per week, assisted manager in carrying out monthly inventory of over $150,000 in products.

These numbers help recruiters imagine your impact. Including this kind of quantifiable data on your resume can help level the playing field when you’re new to the 9-to-5 world.

Final thoughts

What recruiters expect to see on a resume is constantly changing and evolving. Make it a habit to regularly update your resume so it’s always ready when you need it!