3 Ways to Upgrade your Resume

1.       Visuals
It is natural for the human eye to be drawn to visuals and clear presentation.  In addition, clean formatting helps the reader understand the information presented quickly. Candidates may also include a passport-sized photograph in their resume.
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For more creative industries, you may also adopt visually-appealing resumes or provide links to an online portfolio of your work. 

2.       Consistency
Regardless of your choice of formatting, be sure that formatting remains consistent throughout the document. Don’t start of by having all dates in the right column, only to revert back to dates in the main text in the later half of the document.

Inconsistency in formatting leaves a bad impression. Other common mistakes include:

• Grammar (e.g. inconsistent use of past/present tense);
  
• Punctuation (e.g. inconsistent use of full stops, bullet points and capitalization);
• Lack of defined terms; and
• Fragmented sentences.

 
3.       Length
As counter-intuitive as it may appear to be, the quickest way to boost your resume is to keep it short. By being selective in what you choose to include, you naturally focus on your key strengths and accomplishments. This will force you to summarize and in turn, helps the reader digest the main points quicker. Cut out filler information (e.g. pre-university) and you will find that your resume is much more effective overall.

Ultimately, you want your employer to understand your background and your key strengths within 5 minutes of glancing through your CV. If your resume is too lengthy or unnecessarily wordy, your employer may just pass you over for another candidate who gets straight to the point.

Download our template CV here. ​