Writing a Resume in 2024: What You Need to Know
Crafting your resume in 2024 has become something of an art and is not something all job seekers keep up with, but they should. The landscape for job seeking has changed from mailing your resume to emailing your resume and now to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). You can be the best candidate for the position, but if no one sees your resume it won’t matter. So how do you get your resume in front of the recruiting and hiring team?
The first step is understanding how recruiting works from the employer side of things. Often a manager has a position opening, either due to an employee leaving or to company growth, and they notify their Human Resources (HR) team or external staffing agency of their need to fill the role. The team or agency sets up the job description, key skills, and other information in their ATS and pushes the job out to various job posting platforms such as Indeed, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder and more! When a candidate applies the ATS automatically scans the candidate’s resume and ranks them as a high quality match, a possible match, or maybe even eliminates the candidate altogether based on keywords, skills, and knockout questions set by the employer.
Stop right there. This is where people are getting lost. This is where you, the perfect candidate, are missing out on your opportunity to be considered for the position. Getting through the ATS is a bit of a dance and it’s one all job seekers need to learn if they want to land their next dream role.
An ATS is looking for keywords in your resume, and where does it find those keywords? The job description. Your resume could say “managed team of 50 and grew revenue by 150%” but the keyword the ATS is looking for might be leadership. The first step before submitting your resume is to review it against the job description. I recommend doing this with two windows open next to each other. Read through the job description and look for ways you can incorporate the keywords. Perhaps change the above example to say “under my leadership grew revenue by 150% with a team of 50”. Now you’re using the keyword of leadership! Your resume is communicating the same information but utilizing the keywords the employer is looking for.
Keywords also include the software, equipment, or experience the employer is requesting. Be sure to mirror the words used. If your resume lists all the facets of Microsoft Office but doesn’t use the words “Microsoft Office” and the job description does, it won’t recognize that as a match. If the job description specifies 5 years of experience in sales, simply having a job or two in sales that spans 5 years may not be enough for the ATS. Use a cover letter to highlight things like this that may not be as apparent from your resume, the ATS is scanning your cover letter as well.
It’s also important to note that an ATS will not see graphs, charts, photos, or other images that you place in your resume and as such does not use that information to determine if you are a good fit or not. While they may be aesthetically pleasing they can sometimes make it impossible for an ATS to read, so I recommend staying away from them. Similarly they don’t always screen columns well or headers and footers, it’s best to avoid these. An ATS will typically screen a PDF or a Word Document better than other types of documents, even if it says it will accept them for upload.
Be sure to use the standard headings found on resumes such as Experience, Education, Certifications, Skills, etc. as that will ensure your information is filtered correctly in the system.
Don’t just write your resume for the ATS though. Be sure your resume will read well to the team member or agency that will likely do the initial resume screening and interview, as well as for the hiring manager. What this means is, you need a standard resume that encompasses everything and then you need to tailor it for each job you apply to.
If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking “how do I manage this?!” and that’s a great question! When my company downsized in 2019 and I found myself looking for my next role I found job seeking to be a fulltime job, so I needed a way to streamline it. Here’s what worked for me:
One resume with everything on it
Folders for various employers
Save every resume and cover letter sent
Putting this into practice:
I found that the best way to write my best resume was to make one really long resume that encompassed everything I could think of that I’d done, every piece of software or equipment that I’d used, any measurable I could think of, etc. and I listed it all out! This became the starting point for every other resume I sent.
When crafting your resume you want to be specific but not detailed. What I mean is, explain that you grew revenue by XX% in X years but don’t write sentences about it. Using measurables is a great way to express what you accomplished in a succinct way and many hiring teams are looking for this kind of information in candidates they consider.
When I found a job I wanted to apply for I’d first create a folder that I titled the name of the company I was applying with. I’d then set up my windows side by side so I could see the job posting and my resume. I would make a copy of my resume and save it as my name - the position title (ex. John Smith - Sales Manager) and I would put it in the folder I’d just created. (This way I could easily reference the same information they had when I got the interview.) Now I was ready to edit. I’d start at the top of the job posting and read it all the way through, and then begin line by line seeing how I could express on my resume how my skills and experience matched, paying attention to keywords.
Keep in mind that the most recent position you’ve had should be the longest typically and they should get progressively shorter the more time has passed. You may even omit certain positions if it isn’t relevant to the position you are applying for, provided that doesn’t leave a gap in your job history. (More on gaps in a moment.) You also want to be attentive to not repeat yourself in every job. If something like management or sales is key to what you do, that may be reflected in each position but you shouldn’t express it in the same way each time.
If you have a gap in your employment history it is important to address that, either in the resume or the cover letter depending on what you think is best for that position, and it may vary by the position you’re applying for. If you’ve taken time to care for an aging parent, to be a stay at home parent, etc. there are still things you’ve done to develop your skills. Think through what those are. Did you have to become adept at making appointments and managing a schedule? Did you create and establish routines? Manage a household budget? This article on Indeed has some great suggestions for how to include being a stay at home parent on your resume, see if it sparks some ideas for all the things you did in your employment gap!
I’d then write my cover letter, being sure to include any information I couldn’t effectively highlight or any keywords I hadn’t used in my resume. I was then ready to submit it!
If another position I was applying for was the same role, I might start with the resume I had just created and adjust accordingly to match the next job posting, but I would always have my full resume to fall back on if I needed to refer to it or pull things from it.
Another Key Tip:
If you are a job seeker that is currently employed, or maybe you’re content in your position for the moment, I would recommend making it a regular practice to note what you do. Update your full resume regularly with key measurables, new software, certifications, etc. so when the time comes to look for a job you’re ready to go.