How To Create a Resume That Lands You the Job

At Goodwill, your generous donations help support our mission of fighting unemployment in Arizona. Proceeds help us fund our no-cost career centers that provide individuals with job resources, like resume review and interview training. If you’re currently looking for a job, read on to learn how to create a resume that will stand out and help you land the job. After you’ve completed your resume, come see us at one of our career centers and we’ll be happy to review it and provide some feedback.

Design and Formatting

You don’t need expensive software to format a beautifully designed resume. Start by making sure the most important stuff is at the top. An objective is no longer needed, but you may opt to include a career summary as an introduction. Then, utilize bullets and short paragraphs to break up the page and direct the eye down the page.

It is still a general rule that your resume should fit on one page. You may need to remove some “fluff” in order to do so. As you narrow in on a specific job you want to apply for, you can delete experience that doesn’t apply to that particular job. Do a test print to make sure it fits on one page. If you have more than ten years of experience, overflowing onto a second page is acceptable as long as everything on your resume is pertinent to your application.

Selling Yourself

It is a difficult challenge to communicate your entire career, work ethic and accomplishments on one piece of paper. It’s vital though that you sell yourself to a potential employer. This can be tough for some people, so consider asking old colleagues or friends to describe your strengths and successes. You may be surprised how others perceive you.  

The key to selling yourself is to talk about accomplishments rather than responsibilities. If you can quantify those accomplishments, that’s even better. For example, if your work increased sales by 10%, include that number. Use colorful action words when appropriate, but don’t go overboard with the thesaurus.

Tailoring to a Specific Job

Start with a base resume that you can use on your online networking profiles. Then, once you find a job that you want to apply for, create a resume version specific to that job. Look for keywords in the job description that you can work into your resume.

Another way to tailor your resume is by tweaking a job title to match what the job seeker is looking for. This doesn’t mean you can give yourself a promotion, but if your title was Marketing Coordinator, you can adjust it to Marketing and Communications Coordinator to better match the job you’re applying for.

Check out our online career services or find career center near you for more helpful resume tips.