How To Write A Relevant Resume

A little known fact about recruiters reading resumes is that they spend an average of about 6 to 7 seconds on each individual’s resume!

That’s just about as long as it takes to walk your resume over to the recycling bin and drop it in…

So how do you capture their interest and get to the top of the good pile instead of the trash pile?

By keeping things RELEVANT.

Hiring managers are trained to look for the most relevant information that shows the applicant is a good match to the specific job requirements. But not all job seekers are trained on how to showcase themselves to appear like a good match.

Fortunately for you, today we’re going to train you on just that! Let’s take a look at the most important things to keep in mind when writing a relevant resume!

Recency

Some information is irrelevant because it isn’t recent enough to make an impact.

For instance, if you’re looking to enter a new industry after 10 years working in a different field, your references and work history from the first few years aren’t relevant to your potential employer.

Instead of listing out your whole work history, focus on the latest jobs and how you’ve been using your time lately to build the skills you need to make the transition.

Similarly, you don’t need to provide a lot of detail about your educational background unless you are a recent graduate. Otherwise, if it’s been a few years to a few decades, your extracurriculars from school typically aren’t a good indication of the skills you are currently practicing.

That said, there are some circumstances in which you might mention seemingly outdated work and education history. For instance, if you are switching to a new industry midway through your career — one that you studied in school but haven’t worked in — then it’s ok to mention you have a foundation in a relevant field.

Appropriate subjects

There are two things you should never discuss in polite company (including with your recruiter).

They are personal relationships and personal beliefs.

This means that you need to cut out any part of your resume which might indicate something about marriage, child status, politics, religion, etc.

Stop and consider if you’ve mentioned anything that touches on these subjects which isn’t immediately relevant to your actual value as an employee.

A good example of this is if you’ve volunteered on a political campaign, versus if you actually worked in a campaign environment. If it’s the former, it isn’t relevant because it showcases your political ethic more than your work ethic. But the latter is potentially appropriate, if you are applying to work in a similar environment now.

Areas to focus on

We’ve talked about what things to exclude from your resume, but what about the things you should include?

There are 4 areas you should focus on for a relevant resume. Review yours, and ask yourself if every bit of information touches on at least one of these subjects. And if not, consider removing that part and replacing it with something that does!

1. Does it prove I’m qualified?

Does your resume talk about your qualifications, and provide examples to support them?

2. Does it include keywords?

Does your resume speak the same language as your potential employer, and include keywords from the job description?

3. Does it showcase my skill set?

Does your resume speak to your soft skills, such as communication, negotiation, or teamwork?

4. Does it measure my value?

Does your resume tell a recruiter what value you will bring to the table if you’re hired, and how their company will be positively impacted by having you in it?

Conclusion

Even though a resume is usually only one page, it’s still easy enough to fill up the page with filler material that isn’t relevant to the job.

So now that you’ve learned a bit about what makes a resume relevant to recruiters, why not take a look at yours today to see if you can improve it!

How To Write A Relevant Resume