Build the Best Resume to Land your Virtual Dream Job

A resume has the power to make or break your chances of landing an interview to your dream job online. So, what should you include in your resume to land your virtual job?

With these proven tips on resume writing, your chances of getting an interview and your dream job will rise significantly.

Keep it Fresh, Simple and Straightforward

A true resume is a summarized version of your CV, which should showcase your skills in as little time as possible. This means that you should keep it simple, precise and straight to the point. The ideal resume is usually 1 to 2 pages long, containing your contact information, personal statement, education history, work history as well as skills and experiences.

Your skills and experience must include the knowledge and expertise you learned from school or workplace, as well as anything self-taught. For instance, if you are applying for a software development job, you could include the major programming languages and courses you learned at school, skills that you’ve practically worked with at your previous jobs and skills that you personally taught yourself.

Make Your Skills Stand Out

Including self-taught skills is especially helpful for people moving from one career to a different one, and those without a prior educational background in the forthcoming career. While you should keep the resume simple and precise, it won’t hurt to specify and elaborate on your skills in a more objective and professional way. The layout should be simple with minimal formatting for a more professional appeal to achieve the best layout with resume templates.

Your resume should also be up-to-date and grammatically perfect, with the most important and virtual job-relevant information at the top. You have to keep adding any recently acquired skills and experiences regularly so that you can be ready just in case you want to apply for a job or promotion urgently.

Tailor the Resume to the Job Description

For every online job posting, the number of applications received by employers and interviewing panels is huge. Given the time constraints, they can only get the chance to flip through them and sort them out in terms of relevance. When writing your resume, it is important to focus more on the job posting or offer rather than your past. Instead of detailing every job experience and achievement you have, focus particularly on those relevant to the job.

For instance, if you are applying for a job in Virtual Assisting or IT, it may not help much to describe the chef position you held 10 years ago. Of course, you can mention it, but do not go into too much detail. Instead, focus on experiences that are most relevant to the job at hand.

Some companies may use a resume sorting software that scans all the submitted resumes and separates the most relevant to the job, which proceed to the next level, from the least relevant that don’t make it to the next stage. It is essential to make sure that your resume matches the job requirements and expectations. You have to carefully go through the job posting, get the most important skills highlighted and include them in your resume.

By so doing, you increase the probability of your resume passing the first test for relevance, which is a step closer to your next job or career. Having the skills that are highlighted in the job description will also attract the attention of the employers, which may get you that long-awaited interview.

Results and Achievements Trump Responsibilities

One famous Herman Gottlieb said that “Numbers don’t lie”, and this is what employers believe. Did you perform impressively at your previous job? Then be sure to include your incredible results and achievements in your resume, supported by verifiable data in terms of percentages or numbers. It is important to have your strongest qualifications at the top third section of your resume even if you haven’t yet amassed as many accomplishments.

If you are a new graduate with no work experience, then you must place your education history at the top. If you have relevant experience, then your work experience and skills should appear at the top. This way, the recruiter or employer will see the most relevant information first.

For a more eye-catching outlook, it helps to bold out the most important elements of your resume such as academic and career qualifications and accomplishments, so that the recruiter can see them at a single glance. Check out these tips to help your resume stand out from the rest:

• Highlight your medals of recognition and awards.
• Show your strong leadership and team player skills.
• Quantify your successes and accomplishments.
• Emphasize achievements using powerful action verbs such as ‘improved’ and resolved’.
• Include industry keywords in your resume.

Most resumes take the reverse-chronological format with the most recent achievements placed at the top of the resume and the oldest at the bottom. However, if the skills-based format is more suitable, then feel free to use it with the aid of a resume template. In some instances, it helps to add some personality to your resume in the hobbies and additional skills sections. Getting an interview or job takes some time, and you should practice some patience even as you apply these success-proven resume-drafting tips.

Blog author: Jane Sandwood