How To Create A Remarkable Resume That Lands Interviews

Written By Dulik Kohomange

Today, I am going to show you how to create remarkable resume that land interviews consistently.

Quick checklist

  • Why do you need a resume?

  • Make it easy for your interviewers to find your contact details

  • Create a Professional Summary List to get recruiters attention

  • List 6-8 key skills related to your ideal job

  • List out 3-5 key work experiences related to your ideal job

  • List out your certifications and designations

  • List degrees and diplomas

  • List your interests and hobbies

  • More tips to make your resume more attractive

Why do you need a resume?

Resumes are important because it works as a great tool that showcases key information about your skills and work experience to employers.

Employers use resumes to get a deeper understanding of your qualifications, abilities and strengths. Resumes are the primary determinant whether you will get an interview for the job you applied for. Therefore, taking the time to properly craft a resume that is both informative and eye-catching is critical to getting interviews and landing your next job.

That being said, recruiters only spend about 7.4 seconds on reviewing resumes due to the high volume of applications they receive. Since recruiters are constantly bombarded with resumes, you want to make sure it is as easy to read and consume as much as possible.

I recommend keeping your resume short and sweet for about 1-2 pages and include the most valuable information about yourself.

Here 7 sections I recommend in order to create a high performing resume:

  1. Contact Details

  2. Professional Summary List

  3. Skills

  4. Work History

  5. Certifications

  6. Education

  7. Hobbies

Make it easy for your interviewers to find your contact details

When preparing your resume, make it easy for your interviewers to find your contact details quickly.

Items like your name, email address, phone number and location are critical in this section.

Remember to add these key details in your header:

  1. First and Last Name

  2. Email Address

  3. Phone Number

  4. City and Country

  5. LinkedIn Profile (hyperlink your LinkedIn profile)

  6. My Portfolio (hyperlink your portfolio - optional if you don't have a portfolio)

Double-check your details for accuracy. You don't want to miss a call or email because you put the wrong information in the contact details section.

Create a Professional Summary List to get recruiters attention

To get most of recruiters’ attention, create a Professional Summary list. This is one of the first and most closely looked at areas in your resume by recruiters.

Use this section in your resume to provide a summary of your qualifications and skills.

Also remember to use bullets in this section. Using bullets rather than a paragraph is ideal here because bullets makes it much easier for recruiters to read your resume and comprehend the information.

Here are few tips to help you craft a great Professional Summary List:

  • Use bullet points to make it easier for recruiters to identify your skills and experience.

  • Include "number of years" to explain each bullet point (i.e. over 10 years experience...)

  • Identify and describe major responsibilities and projects you worked on over the years

  • Identify and show key software and tools you used in your past roles

  • State key job related certifications and training that you have received

List 6-8 key skills related to your ideal job

When updating your resume, remember to list the key skills you developed over the years.

Clearly showing your skills on the resume helps recruiters easily and quickly identify your abilities and skills. It will entice them to continue reading it further or contact you.

I recommend you list 6-8 skills in this section.

There are two major types of skills that you could include in this section

Technical skills: These are skills you developed when performing activities that produce something physical or digital. 

Recruiters pay careful attention to this section since the person they are looking to hire must possess certain technical skills to help them solve the problems they are having.

Examples of technical skills include:

  • Bilingual or multilingual

  • Database management

  • Adobe software suite

  • Network security

  • Project Management

  • SEO/SEM marketing

  • Statistical analysis

  • Data mining

  • Mobile development

  • User interface design

  • Marketing campaign management

Soft skills: Soft skills are personal habits that determine how you work and work with others. Recruiters are interested to know what soft skills you possess because they want to determine whether your working habits match with theirs. I recommend listing 2-3 soft skills in the resume.

  • Effective communication

  • Open-mindedness

  • Teamwork

  • Creativity

  • Problem-solving

  • Critical thinking

  • Adaptability

  • Empathy

Here are 4 steps to quickly identify your key skills:

1. Identify 5-10 job descriptions that are related to your ideal job.

2. Identify 15-20 recurring keywords you see in the job descriptions (i.e. skills, software tools, methodologies).

3. Identify 6-8 keywords and skills that best represent your skills from the 15-20 keywords you identified from the step above.

4. Add those that are most relevant to your experience to your resume.

List out 3-5 key work experiences related to your ideal job

Experience section is one of the most important sections in your resume. It is one of the most closely reviewed areas by recruiters and hiring managers. 

I recommend listing out 3-5 professional experiences in this section to showcase your work history.

Here are key items that should be included in the Experience section:

  • Current and past Job titles

  • Company names

  • List 4-5 key responsibilities and accomplishments

  • Use stats and numbers whenever possible

  • Use action words in experience

How to know what to write for responsibilities?

In order to know what to write in this section, research 5-10 job descriptions on your ideal job on job search sites.

  1. For example, if you are updating your resume for a Project Management role, find 5-10 job descriptions related to your ideal job on sites like LinkedIn or Indeed. 

  2. Make a list of recurring/common responsibilities and duties that fall under those roles. 

  3. If you had similar responsibilities and duties in your past projects and roles, add them to your work history. 

  4. Use past tense when listing your responsibilities.

Remember to use action words to describe what activities and responsibilities you participated in your past roles.

Here are few action words you can use to start the sentences in the experience section:

  • Managed

  • Orchestrated

  • Guided

  • Mentored

  • Launched

  • Installed

  • Created

  • Developed

  • Worked

  • Directed

  • Operated

  • Served

  • Updated

As I said before, this is one of the most important sections in your resume. Take time to carefully construct this area in your resume and spend time to refine it over time.

List out your certifications and designations

When preparing your resume, make sure to  list certifications and designations you’ve completed or in the process of completing.

Around 90% of hiring managers and decision makers consider certifications as an important criteria for hiring.

Here is how certifications can benefit you:

  • Increases your productivity

  • Proficiency with work tasks

  • Develops valuable skills

  • Career advancement

  • More job opportunities

  • Networking and community benefits

  • Professional credibility

  • Personal development

List degrees and diplomas

If you have received any degrees and diplomas, use this section in your resume to list them.

Here what you should include in this section:

  • Name of the institution 

  • Name  of your degree

  • GPA (optional if your GPA is not higher than 3.5/4)

Avoid adding your date of graduation unless required for the job.

Keep this section straight-forward. There is nothing too fancy you need to do for this section. 

List your interests and hobbies

Listing your hobbies and interests is a great way to help you connect with the interviewers at a personal level and shows your human side.

If you feel uncomfortable sharing your hobbies and interests, this section is optional. No pressure.

If you decide to add them, here are few things you can start to think about listing:

  • Communities you are involved or build

  • Speaking engagements

  • Writing or blogging projects

  • Mentoring or coaching

  • Sports teams and other group interests

  • Volunteering and charity work

More tips to make your resume more attractive

Here are few more tips to make your resume even better:

  • Send your resume as a PDF file whenever possible to avoid any formatting issues on different computers.

  • Name your resume as FirstnameLastnameResume.pdf or .doc to avoid confusion.

  • Edit your resume out loud at least 3 times to avoid any errors before you send it out

  • Make your resume super easy to read and understand.

  • Use a professional-looking email address such as firstnamelastname@gmail.com.

  • Create multiple resumes to match and target different job types and titles.

  • Continuously refine and edit your resume to best represent your current experience and skills.

Dulik Kohomange
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