Resume tips from the source

As the world opens back up, more and more companies are growing again. Some of us have taken the time to rethink our careers or change our paths when it comes to our day to day. We could all use a little help now and then and that is why I’ve put together a so-called head start on what to think about when applying for your next role.  When it’s time to update your resume and give it a refresh, are there certain mistakes that you always seem to make?  Are there areas on your resume where you aren’t sure if hiring managers or recruiters notice?

For this blog, i’ve spent the past week working with our team here at Intelletec to try and find, isolate and hopefully present some tips that you might just not have thought of.. They informed me of the most common mistakes and what they look for most on a Linkedin profile or a resume, what they wish they would see more of and the overall agreement that the simplicity of a professional resume is a fan favorite.

So…..let’s take a look at what our team has to say about it and how it can help you next time you are applying for a role.

Highlight Personal Projects

Most of us know, teamwork is great, we learn a lot from each other and gain experience. With that being said the most common theme that came about during my interactions with the team was that they see more of the “we” on resumes instead of “I.”

Our clients are interested in what people have done and they would like resumes to be more personal and detail specifically what you have worked on, rather than what you accomplished as a team. Our team would love to see achievements that you personally accomplished with detail behind them, other than just bullet points. We certainly recommend taking time and going into detail about the projects and responsibilities you’ve had.

Top Tips you may not have known:

At Intelletec we are focused on placing top engineers, data scientists, and product professionals with fast growing technology companies. So starting with some core examples seems as good a place as any, for those applying for roles or any similar role here are a couple tips straight from our sources:

• Software engineers applying for roles, clearly listing the tech stack you use in each of your roles, as well as a list of technologies/ languages you used for each company, as opposed to a long list of everything you may have come across in your career.
• If you are a designer applying, a little tip from our recruiters; highlight what platforms you worked on: Mobile (iOS and/or Android), Web, Responsive Web etc.
• Commercial impact - most of the time Hiring Managers are looking for profiles that actually showcase more than just technical proficiency, they want to see real world applications.
• Provide links to projects like Dribble, Github, Medium, Stackoverflow, etc.
• To keep your resume from looking like a junior or recent grad, place all certifications and degrees at the bottom of your resume
• Highlight any courses you may have taken recently, conferences or workshops to show you are continuing your education.

LinkedIn is key

LinkedIn is a huge networking tool and it’s been used as a hiring source for quite some time, with that being said, our team loves to keep it simple. For the profile pictures, a clean professional picture, no hats, sunglasses or anything distracting in the background. Keeping your profile easy to read and navigate is also a plus as well as keeping it up to date. If you are intending to use it as a quasi Resume, then focus on your achievements, rather than a generic Company profile.  

If you are actively searching, checking your inmails often and replying in a timely manner works wonders - so many companies hire quickly. Did you know there was a way to let recruiters know you are actively searching for a new role on LinkedIn? There is a button on your profile that reads “Turn on to let recruiters know you are open to work.” That will gain more attention to your page when looking for a new role.

What I’ve taken away from the conversations with the team;

• Think of yourself as your own cheerleader, highlight your personal accomplishments and tasks completed within a company.
• Have your resume as simple and clean as possible, easy to read, and to the point is key.
• Exhausting all your LinkedIn resources will help accelerate your career search, while staying active and keeping a professional profile at all times.

With the insights from our recruiters and insider tips displayed in this blog, we would love to know if there was anything you read about that you may not have known before? What stood out to you? Take our survey and let us know what resume knowledge you’ve gained and what you didn’t know was important when updating your resume or LinkedIn profile.

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