Whether you’re jumping back into the workforce after a brief retirement or you’re putting together a new resume having been laid off recently from COVID-19, the experienced team at FOCUS Employment Services is here to help you virtually showcase your talents, and fine-tune your resume and cover letter to land that new job on your career path. To help you tailor your 2020 resume to any position opening or job posting in your industry, we have put together the following checklist to help you along the way. This isn’t just for resumes built from scratch either. You can use this checklist while reviewing your current resume to make sure you’re seen as a relevant asset to your potential employers as well.
1. Review the job posting in detail and make note of anything they are asking for their ideal candidate to have in terms of skillsets, qualifications, certification, etc. and make sure that the ones you have on that list are highlighted both in your cover letter and that they are easily noticed in your resume too.
2. Make sure your contact information is accurate and up-to-date. If your phone number or email address isn’t current because you overlooked reviewing it before you hit send, that employer might be interested in reaching you, without you even knowing if that information is inaccurate.
3. Make sure that you tailor your cover letter to the job posting, don’t just send a blanket cover letter “to whom it may concern”. Do your research, call ahead and find out who the hiring manager might be and then personalize your message not just to the job, but also to the person who might hire you directly.
4. Make sure that your work history is up to date with your most recent work experience first, and make sure that you describe what you did in that role in as few words as possible while explaining the role as in-depth as you can as well. You’ll also want to make sure you have the right business name of each previous employer, and correct dates outlined that you were employed there. We see candidates copy and paste to duplicate the formatting, but then forget to edit the information quite often.
5. Remove any irrelevant job history unless it’s all the work history you have. When you’ve worked at 20 companies throughout the years, there’s no need to add them all in, but the ones that showcase your expertise through work experience are integral to helping you land that job.
6. Proofread, proofread, proofread. Once you’ve finalized your resume, have a friend, family member or colleague review your resume for spelling, and grammar. It wouldn’t hurt to have them read the job posting too, in case they have any suggestions that you might have overlooked.
Resume 101 – what to include in a resume looking for part-time work as a retiree.7. Send a copy of your resume, cover letter, and a link to the job posting you’re applying for to the experienced team at FOCUS Employment Services. We’ll look it over and let you know of any suggestions or improvements you can make to help get you that interview
