LEONIE HELM
Writing a resume can be a huge challenge for many people and makes the difference whether you end up in the 'yes' pile, or the trash.
There are many different opinions out there on what makes a good one, and certified resume strategist Greg Langstaff, 35, from Toronto, Canada, thinks he's found the winning formula.
"When I was completing grad school in the U.S., I wanted to stay in the country, but I needed a work visa," Langstaff told Newsweek. "I applied to 118 jobs and, in that time, I became very good at refining my resume and moving through the interview process. However, whenever the time came to tell the employer I needed a work visa, I would be kicked out of the process.
"I started helping people job search because I don't want others to feel the pain and heartbreak that I went through during that challenging job-search process," Langstaff said.
A person looks at their resume at a desk with a laptop in front of them. An expert has told Newsweek his top tips for writing the perfect one that will get you noticed.
In a video posted to his TikTok account @greglangstaff, he says that this resume has certain eye-catching style points. These include "two professional titles" under the name "so we give ourselves a nice strong brand right up front;" "a short but effective professional summary to describe our professional skills and values;" and the chance to "hit them with a couple of career highlights."
esume writing is clearly a popular topic, as Langstaff's video has more than 1.1 million views.
Three Top Tips for Your Resume
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You should not start the resume with your professional experience. It is important to brand yourself first with things like titles, areas of expertise, career highlights, and/or a professional summary.
It's best to submit the resume as a PDF file to preserve the formatting because a Word file might look different on the hiring manager's computer.
Cover letters are still important. If a hiring manager likes 10 candidates' resumes but has time to interview only five, the cover letter is often used as a sort of tie-breaker.
Langstaff said that numbers always draw the employer's eye, "so quantifying as much of your content as possible is important. This could include results like, how much money you helped save the company, or the frequency with which you did something, or how many customers you helped each day."
The average length of unemployment as of April 2023 was 20.9 weeks, or a little over five months, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That's a lot of job applications, and today it takes anywhere from 100 to 200 applications for the average person to receive even one job offer, according to job seekers' website Zippia. "Making things even harder is that, on average, every corporate job opening in the U.S. receives approximately 250 applications," its experts add.
If you are sending out lots of resumes and hearing zero back, it could be that you need to tweak your resume.
"I would recommend showing your resume to a few people whom you trust for some feedback because it can be hard to improve your own resume if you've been staring at it for a long time," said Langstaff.
"When you're job-searching, don't be afraid to ask around to friends and family to see if they know anyone in the industry you're trying to get into," Langstaff added. "Having a few short conversations with someone who is on the inside of a place you would like to be can really help you adjust your strategy and perspective."
"This is the template I used to apply to my first new grad job! I got it," commented one user. "This makes me so happy I'm retired and never have to do this again. Thanks!" shared another.
Source: NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC
Original content:
https://www.newsweek.com/work-coach-perfect-resume-job-1822357
