The Ultimate Resume Checklist

The Top 5 Tips on how to Write a Targeted Resume that gets read!

This easy-to-use, comprehensive guide for writing a targeted resume will help jobseekers get noticed and land more interviews. We highly recommend downloading the Ultimate Resume Checklist, in PDF form by clicking the image above.

Many candidates don’t take the time to produce a targeted resume, hence a sadly missed opportunity. This checklist provides great resume pointers that will teach jobseekers how to make the process simple and easy.

1. I’ve customized my resume to the actual job advertisement

To properly sell yourself to the job, you need to really understand what the company is looking for in that job. Understanding from the company’s perspective what they are looking for from the ideal candidate to fill the role is all very important, so start by reading the job posting very carefully. Look for keywords and phrases that may be repeated or stand out because those that are important to the job. This information will help you target your most relevant qualifications to what they’re actually looking for, specifically because this is the first step in building a targeted-to-the-job resume.

2. I’ve optimized my resume to pass through an applicant tracking system

Most HR departments use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to organize their work in receiving and reviewing resumes. While this can be a good tool for the company, it can be a big problem for you as a job applicant. This is because an ATS can be configured to automatically filter out resumes that don’t appear to be a good enough fit for each available job. In other words, if you don’t write each of your resumes with a particular job advertisement in mind, then you risk your resume being filtered out by an ATS. And this means your resume won’t ever be reviewed by an actual person.

You can avoid this by inserting throughout your resume those specific, important to the job keywords and keyword phrases from the job posting. LeadUp career has a 5-Step Approach that will walk you through the process of identifying and using powerful keywords to beat the ATS filters and get your resume in front of the right people.

3. I’ve formatted my resume properly

When you format your resume by considering these important guidelines, it has a much better chance of getting read:

• Avoid the use of all-caps. It is difficult to read and often interpreted as yelling.
• Keep some white space in your resume to make it more readable and to help separate sections.
• Keep standard margins. Don’t go below 0.5 inches or over 1.0 inches.
• Avoid long paragraphs of text. Instead, limit yourself to 3-4 sentences for each text block.
• Use bullets for lists and try to start each bullet with an action verb if possible.
• Use bold and italics for emphasis, but don’t overdo it with large blocks of text or too much repetition.
• Use a font that will pass through an applicant tracking system, especially fonts such as Arial, Tahoma or Calibri.
• Don’t use graphics or images unless there is a truly special reason.
• Avoid using color. , especially since it can confuse an ATS scanner and filter.
• Avoid border, headers, and footers, because they tend to make your resume look too cluttered.

LeadUp Career has a Resume Toolkit that takes into account all of these items and more. You can get access to the toolkit by clicking the “more info” button at the top of our website.

4. I’ve written a Personal Brand Statement targeted to the job

A resume is your tool to sell yourself as the perfect fit for a particular position. A short and punchy brand statement should be written and included, but it must be targeted to the job. If it’s done well, it will increase the curiosity of the reader to learn more about you. An effective brand statement for a marketing professional might be, “Builds brands and captures audience interest.”

5. I’ve included quantifiable achievements targeted to the job

Provide your key achievements, but only those targeted and important to the actual job. Don’t just “spray and pray” with a generic list of achievements. Instead, take the time to draft your targeted achievements as specific, quantifiable achievements critical to the job. LeadUp Career recommends using the C.A.R. method = “Challenge, Action, Result.” Here is an example: “Implemented a content marketing strategy that generated over one million additional website visits and increased average time-on-site by 37%.”

---

You can download the Ultimate Resume Checklist, for free and as a PDF by clicking the image below. Happy job hunting!