Top Tips to Revamp Your Resume

End of Year Top Tips to Resume Revamp: Preparing for New Job Opportunities

It’s that time of year again when we start to consider what we’ve achieved this year and whether we want to make changes and shake it up in the year to come – it’s time to Revamp Your Resume. There’s no point in holding onto regrets or re-living the mistakes you’ve made this year, but it’s a great time to take stock and consider how you can build on your experiences and self-development to make next year a great one.

Here, we’ll take a look at the strategic moves you can make now to enhance your career prospects and be fully prepared for any new career opportunities in the new year. Whether you’ve been searching for your next career step for a long time or you’re just starting to think about moving up the career ladder, it’s a great time to revamp your resume and set yourself up for success.

Top tips to revamp your resume

Your resume is your first point of contact with any potential new employer so you need to make sure yours stands out from the rest of the pile. Here are our top tips on revamping your resume to give yourself the edge:

Be specific. Firstly, forget the idea of trying to create a comprehensive resume that will work for multiple job applications, especially if you’re applying through a recruitment agency. Insider knowledge tells us that your resume will need to pass through several hands before it reaches the person you need to impress, and the first stages of processing are likely to weed out all those resumes that are not specifically written with the desired job in mind. A generic, formulaic resume will not make it through the recruiter selection process and will become harder to find in subsequent database searches since it is not optimised for a specific role.
Pursue your top job. When you’re trying to secure a job you want, you need to know that job inside out so that you can show your suitability and prove that you are the perfect fit. Take the time to deconstruct the job description for the role you want, and identify where your skills are already polished and where they need brushing up. Work out exactly what the employer is looking for and show them how you can meet each of their essential criteria as well as most of their desired criteria, and make it clear that you will be a great fit for their organisation and the team you will be working within. Keep in mind that you want to make yourself impossible to resist here, demonstrating that you’re the very best applicant for the job in question.
Show willingness to develop. Whether you’re on a pathway to the job you want or you’re applying for it now, you will need to show how you can demonstrate the skills you have and how you will gain those you have not had the opportunity to develop yet. For instance, if you have not got the managerial experience this role calls for, you might look into shadowing a manager in your own time to show willingness and help yourself develop additional skills. Use examples from your previous roles to show that you have the relevant soft skills and experience for the job you are applying for, and be honest about what you have done and what you haven’t – it’s not worth being caught out in the details and losing the opportunity altogether!
Sell your skills. Your resume is not a time to be modest, it’s your opportunity to showcase your talents and make sure you stand out to your potential employers. Give real-life examples of where you have used the skills they are seeking, demonstrating your ability to meet the criteria of the job and – more importantly – to do the job better than every other applicant. It’s crucial to lay out exactly what a good fit you are for the position you want, making it easy for recruiters to see you as an obvious choice.
Be brutal. It can be tough writing a resume and if you’ve put a lot of work into your resume before, you might be sentimental about keeping all of the information in there. However, outdated and irrelevant information will only slow your readers down and distract them from the most important elements of your application. Take the time to look back over your old information and be ruthless in getting rid of anything that isn’t helpful to you now. It doesn’t matter that you took a touch typing course in college if your application does not relate to this directly, so lose the sentiment and ensure you are as concise and up-to-date as possible.
Polish up the page. It might sound basic but it’s important to make sure your resume looks good and you can do this by updating the font and layout on the page. Of course, it’s vital to eliminate spelling mistakes and grammar errors and you’ll need to ask a trusted friend or family member to proofread it for you to make sure of this. It’s easy to miss things when you’re reading your work, so don’t be afraid to ask for help here. If you’re well qualified for the perfect job, you don’t want to miss out on an interview as a result of a typo!
Don’t forget the essentials. There’s no point in spending hours making your resume look great if you make a rookie error and leave your contact details out. Check that you have included the basics: your educational history, work history, relevant experiences and contact details, and then work through the job description addressing each point in turn. Don’t worry about including previous positions that are not relevant to this role unless you are specifically asked to detail every job you have ever had, but focus on your most relevant roles and experiences and connect these to the job you want at every opportunity.

Don’t let the recruitment process get you down

Dont give up on Job Hunting Securing a new role can be thankless, requiring hours of commitment to the job search and application process. It’s easy to get downhearted when you’re putting in so much effort and it has yet to pay off, but give yourself a break and look at the progress you are making, and then follow our top tips and give yourself the best chance of success. If you’ve been job hunting for a long time, you may wish to take a couple of months off to de-stress before you get back to the grindstone.

Focus on the positives while you’re job hunting, and imagine yourself in a job you will be excited to get to each day. Positivity is an important part of the process and keeping yourself focused on your goal will be the best way to stay motivated and enjoy the process. Good luck!

Work with a Recruitment Agency In Ireland

Working with a Recruitment Agency can be the best way to secure the new job of your dreams. A professional recruiter can give you the benefit of their professional experience and help you to revamp your resume to impress potential new employers, as well as share their expertise in interview techniques and many useful tips to help you in your job search.

CareerWise is Ireland’s leading specialist recruitment firm, based in Cork, Shannon and Galway, and we can help you find the top talent for your business in Ireland. We specialise in the Engineering, Supply Chain, Science/Pharma, IT and Accounting industries in Ireland, and we look forward to working with you. Contact us online now or call us at +353 (0) 21 206 1900 to arrange a consultation.

Louise Mulligan

(Senior Recruitment Consultant) BBS CIPD – Mayo Office

Louise has a Marketing Degree from Limerick Institute of Technology. She has also completed a Certificate in Personnel Practice from the National College of Ireland. She is also CIPD accredited. She has 16 years Recruitment experience with Collins McNicholas (Dublin, Galway & Athlone), HRM (Dublin), Lionbridge (Mayo) and Team Horizon (Mayo & Dublin).

She has also worked in Quality Assurance in Allergan (Mayo) & with Ballina Beverages (Mayo).

She has successful recruitment experience involving key roles within Human Resources, Engineering, Quality Assurance and Planning for large multinational companies. She was involved in recruiting all levels including Senior Management for the Medical Devices, Electronic, Pharmaceutical & Manufacturing Industries both on the contracting and permanent side of the business. She has developed a Strong Network of Engineers built up over the last 16 years as she worked in the Mayo, Sligo, Dublin, Athlone and Galway Markets.

Louise has joined CareerWise in March 2017 with the responsibility of growing the business out of the new Mayo office with a primary focus on the West & North-West regions.

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