Here at Swoon, our recruiters see hundreds of resumes a day and are aware of what makes a resume stand out to hiring managers. While each company and position are unique, these three resume tips are relevant for any role in any industry.

The Simple Things Matter

It is important to have a clean, crisply designed resume that is easy to skim through. You can make your resume easy to read by choosing a simple, standard font. You may stand out if you choose a unique font, but not in a good way. If someone cannot easily find the keywords they are looking for, your resume will be dismissed.

You also want to remain consistent in your layout. If you are putting a range of dates on your resume and you spell out the months on one position, do not change this and use abbreviated months in a different position. The same thing goes with bolding and italicising If you bold one job title, bold them all.

Grammar and spelling errors can ruin your chances of getting hired from the start. In most cases, your resume is your only chance at a first impression. Make sure you have triple-checked your resume for mistakes. There are online services such as Grammarly that help explain why certain things are incorrect on your document and what you should do to fix them. Also, it never hurts to have another set of human eyes review your page for anything you overlooked.

PRO TIP: It is a myth that resumes must be only one page in length. If you have a large amount of experience to share, it is okay to continue onto more pages, but remember, nobody wants to read a nine-page resume either.

Keywords

It may seem obvious if you are a designer that you know how to use the Adobe Creative Suite. However, no skill should be left out of a resume, especially if it is a program or certification. Many times, hiring managers will do a search function on resumes, typing in keywords to be sure the resume has them listed. Even if you are a great candidate, you may be overlooked if you are not focused on including these common industry keywords. If you are experienced in Adobe, add the specifics. Do you know Adobe Photoshop, or are you only familiar with Adobe Illustrator? The more specific you can be in these cases, the better.

Tailoring your resume to each individual job description is another great tip. Look for keywords in the job description that you have experience with. Then, be sure to format your resume to include these words. A great perk when working with our team at Swoon, is that we do the tailoring for you. We will make sure that your resume is customized for each role we submit you to. As a bonus, you will get a leg-up on the competition, because we know what the individual hiring managers are looking for in each candidate’s profile.

Quantify Your Successes

Although it will take some extra work, quantifying your efforts is a key tip to getting your resume noticed. Instead of including a bullet point that says:

• Created and implemented a social media plan that grew the company following on all platforms

Say:

• Created and implemented a social media plan that grew the company’s Instagram following by 500 followers, Facebook likes by 40% and Twitter followers by 95

Including these numbers shows that you can quantify your work and gives a more accurate story of your success. Be mindful not to include numbers that are insignificant, or do not add value to a statement. You want to highlight your biggest successes in each of your roles, and then mention the day to day functions that can be transferred to the work you would do in the new role you are applying for.

If you are ready to start looking for a job, or simply want to update your current resume, these tips are sure to get you headed in the right direction. As always, we are here to help, so reach out with any questions or apply for one of our open roles today!

Written by: Jessica Henry

February’s Contractor of the Month is Stacey Hou, a Financial Analyst turned Data Analyst at one of Swoon’s clients, a consumer credit reporting agency in Boston.

Stacey started her Swoon journey when she applied to a role online and started working with Beth Suchocki. Beth and team offered advice, provided sample questions to ask during interviews, and checked-in throughout the process. In fact, Stacey was deciding on concurrent offers and Beth negotiated a more favorable package, ultimately sealing the deal for Stacey.

When starting as a Financial Analyst, a typical workday for Stacey included data entry and reporting, financial journaling, auditing and transactions. As she became more familiar with her role, Stacey realized due to her background in coding, that she was able to automate a lot of her work. Her boss was very supportive and began to assign Stacey additional tasks in business intelligence, coding and data analysis fields.

Stacey was then offered a full-time position with the client as a Data Analyst and her new position started this month! She now supports the business in quantitative data and coding to improve efficiencies.

“My favorite part about the job is the flexibility to identify the optimal way of doing a project and being able to run with it. I am not set to doing everything by a certain set of rules, and this empowers me to go a more creative and passionate route,” Stacey said.

We at Swoon would like to congratulate Stacey on her success and wish her well in her new, full-time role!

Fun Facts: Stacey has a three-pound toy poodle named Luna and a rescue Chinchilla named Bubbles! She loves music and works as an event pianist and church organist in her spare time.

You have taken all the right steps to prepare for your interview and you are ready to give it your all. You have written down notes about the company and questions you have for the interviewer, you know the job description like the back of your hand, and you have your suit jacket back from the dry cleaner.

The interview starts off great, and you are nailing the questions the interviewer asks. But then, they ask about your weaknesses. You panic. You wonder, “how am I supposed to answer this without hurting my chances at getting the job? Should I say I don’t have any career-related weaknesses?” Take a deep breath.

There are many ways to talk about your biggest weakness that can actually improve your chances of winning the role rather than hurting them:

1. Be Specific – Don’t throw out a general trait like being lazy or messy. Instead, choose to talk about a software, certification or other skill sets that you have not yet mastered (Excel, foreign language, Adobe Photoshop) and be sure to explain what you are doing to become better at it (online classes, meet-up groups, etc.).
2. Don’t Give an Example Directly Related to the Role – Of course you may not be as good at Excel as you hope to be, but if you are applying for a data analyst role, this would not be a good weakness to bring up as it is a skill you would often use in this job. You want to make sure you do not make the interviewer question your ability to perform the tasks they need this person to do. Instead, focus on something that is still business related but not something that you would be doing daily in the new role.
3. Stay Composed and Focused – Do not let this question throw off your confidence. For some interviewers, the whole point of asking about weaknesses is to see how the candidates react to the question. Remain calm and answer just as you would any other interview question.
4. Don’t be Arrogant – Claiming you don’t have any weaknesses or trying to make a good attribute into a weakness is not a good idea. For example, saying you are a perfectionist or that you are just too well organized may come off as insincere. If you want to focus on something like this, be careful how you phrase it, you might say something like, “Sometimes I am so focused on keeping myself organized and making sure that everything is in its place that I lose sight of the greater goal of a project and the creativity needed to finish it.”

To best prepare your answer to this question, list out your weaknesses ahead of time so that you can choose which weakness is right to discuss at which interview. Interviewing can be a scary and overwhelming process, but it doesn’t have to be. Working with a Swoon recruiter will help you to get your resume recognized, help you prepare for your interviews and the type of questions you will be asked and ultimately easy your interview worries.

With the end of each year comes a list of goals and resolutions for the coming year. Everywhere you go, there is someone talking about what they are going to do differently this year and how they are going to fulfill new goals. In the spirit of the new year, we have compiled a list of advice and tips on job searching from some of our top Swoon recruiters. So, for all of you who have “get hired” on the top of your resolutions list, read on:

1. “When looking for a job, I believe the culture, opportunity for personal and career growth, vacation time, and volunteer initiatives the company pursues should outweigh your salary. Yes, you should make enough to cover your monthly expenses and enjoy life, but when a company takes care of you, your performance and overall health, that’s priceless.”
   Kelly, Professional Recruiter
2. “Do your research. Check out the company website and research the people you will be speaking to. Take notes and come prepared with at least 3-5 questions to ask.”
   Sara, Director of Recruiting
3. “The biggest piece of advice I can give to job seekers is to be communicative. Open and honest communication about what you are really looking for in your next position, what is going to make you happy, where you are in your job search, etc., will be the most helpful to your recruiter and those helping you land your next gig. We promise to always do the same!”
   Lisa, Recruiting Lead, Major Accounts
4. “When looking to make an employment change, I always tell the candidate it’s important to research a company but even more important to research what your role will be in that company. If you do not know how this opportunity will play out over your career, you may limit future advancement. More importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions about job duties in interviews. You want to come out of the process feeling that this opportunity is the one!”
   Jim, Lead Technical Recruiter
5. “Referrals increase your chances of landing a job, so don’t forget about the network you’ve spent years creating. You never know who could help you along the way, so put in the effort to spread the word that you are job searching and be sure to let your recruiter know you’re actively looking for a job.”
   Ryan, Major Accounts Support Specialist
6. “Focus more on hard technical skills than soft skills and be able to speak about your specific job duties for each of the roles on your resume. Also, don’t be afraid to call the recruiter or HR department to follow up on your status.”
   Anna, Recruiter

Check out our current client openings here or if you are interested in recruiting and sales, and want to join our awesome flock, learn more here.

Finding a job that you do well and enjoy can be a tall task. It may seem like your search will continue indefinitely or you will have to settle for a job that you won’t enjoy that much. The key to success is selling yourself. Start thinking about your own wants and needs from a job and the things you excel at. Here are some ways you can sell yourself during your next interview to get the job you really want.

Ask the Questions

Interviews can quickly feel like intense interrogation sessions when you forget that it’s supposed to be a back and forth dialogue. Take a more active role in your interview and ask relevant questions for a more productive and insightful exchange. Ask pertinent questions about the specifics of the job and the workplace culture so that you can get a complete idea of what the job entails.

Research

Thoroughly research the company before you go into an interview. This will make your questions regarding the job and workplace that much stronger, and it will show them that you have an understanding of what the company does and how you would potentially function in your role.

Preparation

Preparation is more than just making sure your suit is dry-cleaned and that you arrive on time. It is important that you are professional and on-time for your interview, but you should also be prepared to discuss why you want the job you are applying for. If you know the answer to this question it will help you give stronger answers to your interview questions and help you give a stronger interview all-around.

About Swoon

We are recruiters with an unorthodox method and a proven track record of temporary and direct hire placements. Through an approachable method to recruiting we get to know our clients and candidates then connect the best and the brightest with Fortune 1000 companies nationwide. Are you ready to be Swoon’d?