In today’s job market, having a good resume is crucial for landing a well-paying job that aligns with your skills and interests.
Maybe you already have a resume but it just isn’t getting you the results you want, or perhaps you’re starting from scratch. Either way, we’re here to help!
At RaiseUp Families, we aim to help struggling parents in the Houston, TX, area provide a stable home for their children. But financial stability is impossible if you don’t have a job, which is why we’re writing this blog post with our best tips and tricks for creating a standout resume.
Let’s get started!
Resumes have a simple purpose: To show a hiring manager, at a glance, if you have the professional skills and qualifications they’re looking for.
It may be tempting to make your resume stand out from the rest by using unique fonts, layouts, and colors or by writing verbose paragraphs about your objectives or past work experience. But those things will merely distract from your qualifications, defeating the purpose of a resume.
A real standout resume is pared down to simple, relevant information that will show a hiring manager, at a glance, that you have a lot to offer.
And that, ultimately, is what will net you an interview.
Now, how will you write your simple, effective resume?
Here's a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Research
To start, look online for some resume examples, and take note of the different ways you can format or style a resume.
But be careful because sometimes these examples will be on websites that claim to help you make a really cool resume and then end up having hidden fees. You don’t need a fancy website or tool to create a standout resume. A simple Word Doc or Google Doc will work fine.
Step 2: Heading Information
At the top of your resume, type out essential contact information, including:
Step 3: Write a Strong Resume Objective or Summary
After your basic info, write a short resume objective or a summary.
If you don’t have much professional work experience and are seeking an entry-level position, open your resume with an “Objective” – a brief statement about what kind of position you're looking for.
On the other hand, if you have some experience, opt for a “Summary” – a 2-3 sentence overview of your career highlights and skills.
Step 4: List Your Work Experience
Next, list the jobs you’ve had, placing them in reverse chronological order with the most recent first. For each position, include:
Step 5: Include Relevant Skills
The next section of your resume should highlight your skills, including specific technical skills like programming languages or software knowledge, as well as “soft skills” like communication, leadership, and time management.
Step 6: Add Education
List your education, including your degree, field of study, school name and location, and graduation date (or anticipated date). If you have multiple degrees, list them in reverse chronological order.
Step 7: Add other relevant information
If you have any certifications, awards, or volunteer work positions that are relevant to the job you’re applying for, add a section to your resume for that information.
Step 8: Edit and tailor your resume
Once you’ve written these basic sections of your resume, it’s time to edit it to make it as clear, concise, and relevant as possible.
First, think about the job you’re applying for. Is all the information you included relevant to that specific job?
Then, look through what you wrote. Can you make it less wordy, with simple bullet-point lists an employer can quickly scan? Do your best to condense your resume to one page.
This is a great time to bring in some help. Ask family and friends to review your resume and see if they can help condense it and correct spelling and grammar errors.
As a final step, save your resume as a PDF so anyone can open it on any device without messing up the formatting.
If you followed the above steps, you should be left with something simple and to the point. But you may wonder, will this resume stand out from the rest?
Let’s go over a few tips that will help.
1. Tailor Your Resume to Each Job
Instead of using the same resume each time you apply to a job, increase your chances by customizing your resume for each job application. Remove irrelevant information and highlight the skills, experiences, and achievements that best align with the job description. If submitting your resume online, use the same keywords from the job posting to improve your chances with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
2. Use a Clean and Professional Design
As we mentioned earlier, the key to standing out is to make your resume as readable and scannable as possible. That means choosing a clean, professional design with consistent fonts, spacing, and headers.
Finally, make sure the font size is legible (10-12 pt) and use bullet points to make it easy to scan.
3. Start with a Strong Objective or Summary
Since the objective or summary is at the top of the page, it presents a great chance to make an excellent first impression. Use this space to concisely highlight your key qualifications, focusing on what sets you apart and how you can add value to the company.
4. Utilize Local Resources and Help
Finally, the best way to strengthen your resume is to get a second set of eyeballs on it. After spending a lot of time working on it, your eyes may skip over obvious problems.
You can ask a friend or family member to help. Even better, look for local agencies and nonprofits that help people with their job search, offering resume help and interviewing prep.
Most cities have multiple resources available to help you apply for jobs. Here are some of the resources in the Houston, TX area:
Dress For Success
Dress For Success is an organization that empowers women to get good jobs and ultimately give back to the community. They can help you by reviewing your resume, but it doesn’t stop there!
In addition, they’ll help you attain professional attire and prepare for your interview. They also offer professional support after you land the job.
Besides Houston, Dress for Success has chapters in many cities around the world.
The Woman’s Resource
The Woman’s Resource is a place for Texas women and girls to get resources to help them thrive financially, including financial planning classes and programs.
Although The Woman’s Resource mainly focuses on financial issues like saving, getting out of debt, and getting a better credit score, they also offer classes and resources focused on getting good jobs, which includes resume help and interviewing tips.
Memorial Assistance Ministries
Memorial Assistance Ministries is an organization in Houston that offers personalized support for various needs. Besides providing employment services such as resume assistance, they also can help you with things such as:
Christian Community Service Center
Christian Community Service Center (CCSC) is an organization in Houston that seeks to help struggling Houston families. They help in various ways, including offering a food pantry and rental assistance.
However, besides helping you with these basic needs, they also have some workforce development programs that can help you prepare for a new job, including writing a standout resume.
If you live in Houston and are struggling to find a good job and support your family, RaiseUp Families is here to help!
Here’s how we help parents experiencing financial hardship provide a stable home and education for their children:
To support RaiseUp Families, you can donate on our website. And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email us!
