How To Create a Stand Out Resume

If you’re one of 100 people applying for a job, your resume had better be good. You need to format it correctly, of course, but that’s the easy part. The hard part is distinguishing yourself from the other 99 applicants.

It’s not as hard as it seems, though. It just takes a little more work.

Include accomplishments

Don’t just list your job duties under your job title. Make sure you list your accomplishments. For example, in addition to saying you were in charge your company’s social media marketing, tell your prospective employer that you increased the number of social media followers by 50 percent over a year.

If your accomplishments are hard to quantify with hard numbers, list the ways you went above and beyond. Perhaps you were a marketing manager who wasn’t afraid to dive in and create content yourself. Or you were a marketing content developer who stepped up and mentored new employees.

A lot of people have a hard time with this, but if you spend some quality time thinking hard and brainstorming, you’ll figure out how to distinguish yourself from everyone else who spent the last couple of years in the exact same job. And you’ll stand out when you do.

Create more than one resume

If you’re applying for similar but different jobs, don’t send the same resume to every employer.

Let’s say you’ve spent the last four years as a copywriter and social media marketer and did occasional project management on the side. And let’s say you’re applying for all three types of jobs at the same time. The three versions of your resume won’t be very different, but they should be a little bit different.

Your social media resume should include as many social media accomplishments as possible. Your copywriter resume should include as many copywriting accomplishments as possible. And your project management resume should emphasize project management as much as possible.

The easiest way to create three slightly different resumes is to start with one master resume that includes every single accomplishment you can think of at every single job. You won’t actually send that resume to an employer. You’ll use it to create smaller and more focused resumes tailored to the specific jobs you’re applying for. When you do that, you’ll look like you fit the job you’re applying for like a key in a lock.

Include a cover letter

Ninety percent of job applicants don’t write a cover letter, so if you include one you’ll stand out from the pack before anyone even reads it.

Ninety percent of job applicants who do include a cover letter use the same cover letter every time. Boilerplate letters are obviously boilerplate letters, so you’ll stand out from the pack again if you write an original letter that’s focused like a laser on the job you’re applying for.

Yes, it takes time to write a new cover letter every time you fire off a resume. It takes a lot of time, actually, and you might be able to apply for only one or two jobs per day instead of ten. So what? You’ll probably find a job faster. And you’re more likely to find a job that you like because you’ll be pickier about what you go after.

Try to fit everything on one page

You can write a two-page resume if you want or if you need to. Go ahead. Despite what some people think, two-page resumes are normal now.

If you can fit everything onto one page without cramming it in there with a tiny font, though, you’ll stand out. The reason you’ll stand out is because there will no fluff and no filler. Every line will be relevant. If you’re a stickler about listing accomplishments instead of just job descriptions, every line will pack a punch. No one’s eyes will glaze over when they take a look at it.

Don’t pay someone to do it for you

People who write resumes for a living often suck at it. They shouldn’t. It’s their job. But the folks in human resources departments are sometimes appalled at what lands on their desks.

Former human resources pro Allison Green put it this way at her popular blog, Ask a Manager: “[Y]ou can’t just assume that because someone hung out a shingle, they’re good at it. And to vet effectively, you need to have some basis for judging, which means you need to put in the work to educate yourself about what a good resume looks like … which might get you to the point where you can do it yourself anyway.”

If you take the time to do it right and do it yourself, you’ll save time, you’ll save money, and you’ll get hired faster. Put in the work and you shall be rewarded.