10 Expert Tips To Create A Competitive Business Resume

“Hiring managers spend an average of 6 seconds reading a business resume”  

How did you feel after reading that statistic? Six seconds, it’s one to two blinks to make a great first impression among the hundreds of other candidates that may be applying for the same job. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your resume will stick out and catch the eyes of recruiters and hiring managers.

For the past 12 years, I’ve used the same approach and format for my business resume because it works! I learned how to write a resume during my university program, where experts from various industries would coach students

Because I had a high success rate using this business resume approach out of university, I continued using this format when applying to careers to advance my career. I’ve gotten interviews at companies with a high volume of candidates applying every day, such as SpaceX, Amazon, Starbucks, Kaiser Permanente, and more.

It’s because I include the information they are seeking, quantify the results of my work, and have an easy-to-read template. In this blog post, I’ll teach you 10 tips so that your resume has these critical elements. Don’t forget to download my free resume template at the bottom of the post!

10 Expert Tips To Create a Competitive Business Resume

1. Embed Keywords From A Job Description Into Your Business Resume

For every job that you apply to, ensure that you tailor the content of your resume to match what the job description is looking for. Every job will have different requirements and skills that are being sought after. 

A surefire way to not get an interview is to use the same resume and blast them out to multiple jobs. For each job you apply for, read the job description, and try to match the language of the posting in your resume.

Do this by identifying keywords in the job description and embed them into your resume. This will help your resume pass any automated screening systems that employers may use.

For example, look at the job posting below for a Continuous Improvement Lead at PACCAR. In the highlighted section they are looking for candidates who can coach and influence at multiple levels of the organization. If I were applying to this position, I would ensure that keywords like “coach”, “influence” are embedded.

This may seem inefficient at first if you were applying to multiple jobs. However it will be well worth the effort because your resume will be specifically tailored to what the prospective employer is looking for.

2. Highlight Achievements & Results Over Responsibilities 

This point often gets missed a lot when I see other people’s resumes. To demonstrate value to prospective employers, you must articulate the results of your work. I have reviewed many resumes where applicants talk about their job responsibilities and what they did daily.

The most competitive applicants however, highlighted the results they achieved (which also articulated their responsibilities). They highlighted the sales they generated, the costs they saved, how they increased quality rates, improved processes, etc. Achievements and results are best expressed in terms of dollars and percentages. Include these as much as possible!

This is an especially important tactic to use as you now know how short of time hiring managers spend reviewing resumes. If it’s one thing that jumps out on a page, it’s numbers, especially big ones!) See some examples below:

• Created $4,250,000 in annual operating room capacity by reducing turnover times
• Decreased patient scheduling lead times by 7 weeks in the Neurology department by leading upper management through process improvement activities
• Achieved a 95% first call resolution strategy and sustained a service level agreement of 90% by fostering partnerships with cross-functional teams

3. Don’t Be Shy With Your Results

For most job applicants, recruiters and hiring managers have no idea who you are. It’s crucial to demonstrate and emphasize your abilities and experience that you bring to the table. 

Remind yourself that if you are typically more reserved and reluctant to discuss your accomplishments, you will need to overcome that mental barrier to stand out and become competitive. 

One way to overcome this is to keep the content of your resume as objective as possible. Its ok to brag on your resume about the amazing work you’ve done!

4. Use Action Verbs to Describe Your Results

Using action words at the beginning of each bullet point in your resume will demonstrate that you played an active role in the results achieved (verses a passive role). I have reviewed many resumes where the action words were passive. 

As a result of my uncertainty about the applicant’s role in their work, I chose more competitive applicants for an interview. See the table below for examples of action words to incorporate into your resume.

[Source]

5. Highlight Certifications

This tip is straightforward, but an important one. Be sure to highlight any certifications or course completions you have done. I remember a time when I was on an interview panel with a candidate who listed over 10 certifications and course completions they had done. It made us curious and his resume stuck out from many others in a great way. 

We interviewed them and asked questions about his certifications and was quickly able to deduce that they loved learning and focused on self-improvement. He aced the interview and we offered him the job.

Certifications and courses getting easier and cheaper to access and learn. Udemy has an incredible wealth of knowledge available for very affordable costs and even some universities offer low-cost or free certification courses through edx.org. 

Hiring managers care that you are a learner and seek out ways to develop professionally.

6. Avoid Wordiness

Having too many words on your business resume will cause it to be quickly glanced over. Let’s face it, people are busy and have limited time. When recruiters quicky look over a wordy resume, most have a negative reaction because it means more work to sift out the important details.

Make it easy for people to read by:

• Making the information skimmable
  • Use bullet points instead of paragraphs
  • Keep it to one page – especially if you’ve held 5 or less different job titles
• Being as concise as possible by paraphrasing (see tip 7) 

7. Use AI To Write Better

Writing is not one of my strongest skillsets; in fact, one of the reasons I started this blog was to practice. If you struggle with writing, as I do, you know how difficult it can be to put your thoughts on paper and have them make sense. I have started using a free AI software called Quillbot. It’s a game changer for me because it allows me to rephrase my sentences and better articulate what I’m trying to say. I highly suggest checking it out. It’s great for everything from iterating what’s written in your resume to helping you write emails – which I use a lot!

8. Use Free Online Proofreading

Spelling errors and grammar mistakes are another sure-fire way to get your resume dismissed quickly. I have personally seen hiring managers dismiss a resume with spelling errors, even if they had amazing achievements. Why? Attention to detail is a value that almost all hiring managers are looking for. If you’re making simple spelling errors on a resume, what does that say about the quality of work you may produce in a business setting?

As I have been growing this blog and becoming more proficient at writing, I have come across another incredible (and free) AI program called Hemingway Editor. It’s an incredible proofreader and editor that highlights hard to read sentences, grammar errors, spelling errors, passive voice, and more! What’s great is that you can literally copy and paste your whole resume into this app and within seconds it will visually show you where you need to make improvements.

9. Use A Professional Format and Design

The general rule of thumb for business resumes is to use a simple, practical, and easy-to-read resume format.

Here are some recommended tips:

• For fonts, use one of the following:
  • Times New Roman: It’s classic and a popular choice for business resumes
  • Arial: A clean and modern font that makes it a good choice for viewing on electronic devices
  • Calibri: This font was designed specifically for on-screen use making it a popular choice for business resumes. Additionally, it’s a font that easy to read, even at small sizes
• Use a 10-12 font size
• Make it skimmable and easy to read with short paragraphs and bullet points
• Too many colors and graphics are distracting, keep it simple
• Use white space effectively

10. Make It Easy To Learn More About You

At the end of the day, a resume is just a one-page summary of who you are that may be reviewed in 10 seconds or less. There is so much more to you than one page and you want to make it easy for people reviewing your resume to get to know you better. One way I make it easy for people to learn more about me is adding a QR code on my resume that links to my LinkedIn page.

They can quickly hold their phones over the QR code and be able to put a face to the name, how many connections I have, the topics I’m interested in, the testimonials about me, and so much more. And as a bonus, it breaks up the words on my resume which creates visual appeal. Scan the QR code below to see how it links to my LinkedIn profile.

Use the QR code generator here to easily create your own.

Bonus: If you want to make a QR code with the LinkedIn logo like below, click here to download the logo then upload it into the QR code generator.

Conclusion

Creating a competitive business resume takes effort, but it’s well worth it. By following these 10 tips, you can ensure that your resume stands out and catches the attention of hiring managers.

Reference the roadmap below to help you write your most competitive resume yet. This process can assist you whether you are starting from scratch or simply looking to improve your business resume.

There are a plethora of other helpful hints for writing a business resume. Please share your best tips in the comments section below! Remember to download your free copy of my resume template by clicking the button below.

Good luck on your job search!

Need some help with your resume? Email us at [email protected]