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

Every time you have an open position in your company, the struggle begins. You want to hire someone who is a great fit with your existing staff, who will understand your company culture, and who will stay with the company and fulfill their role for a long time. When you’re hiring, there are plenty of factors that go into every interview. Deciding which factors are the most important can help you make better decisions every time you select a new employee.

Training Matters

When you have an open position, you want a candidate who has all the skills necessary to fill it. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to hire someone who already understands the exact techniques, software, or processes used by your company. In many cases, you expect to provide some degree of training before your new employee is ready to fully tackle the job that they’ve been hired to do. If a potential employee has the basic skills necessary to learn the more in-depth skills for the job, you can train them in the specific tools and processes they need to take the position.

Personality Can’t Be Taught

You can teach employees new skills. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work the same way with personality. A good personality fit can make all the difference in many office settings. When you have a team that meshes well together, you’ll have a happier, more productive office environment. In many cases, a great combination of personalities throughout your office will be the difference between employees who are eager to report to work and give their all and a negative office environment. When hiring new employees, therefore, it’s critical to choose personalities that will fit with your existing staff to ensure a better environment for all involved.

Remember, employees can be taught new skills, so don’t write them off if their resume doesn’t read exactly like the job description requirements. Their personality, however, is something you’ll have to get a sense for in interviews and other exchanges. If they don’t feel like a good fit, regardless of their skills, they might not be the candidate for you.

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?

It’s not easy to pull talent away from big established companies. It’s easy to lose the battles of money and health benefits, but you can lose those battles and still win the war. Here’s how: Appeal to a sense of excitement, adventure, their desire to be a part of something great and the possibility of big-time bucks in the future. Saying you were employee #12 of a successful company is really cool. Be honest, but frame the potentials and play to the positive aspects of being a startup.

Opportunity

Wearing multiple hats is something that excites people. Having direct contact with the client is another opportunity many people desire. Talented people aren’t trying to avoid work; they’re trying to funnel their talents into something that isn’t boring. They want to be challenged and feel the excitement of future opportunities. Tap into those instincts.

Be Transparent

In every way possible, be open and honest. Map out your plan to the prospective employee. Show them how you will need them to succeed, and be honest about the challenges. Startups are small with office cultures that can grow cliquey if knowledge isn’t shared broadly. Avoid this by being as open with everything as you can. Think about running your operation with an open book, so nothing is opaque.

Brand Ambassadors

Everyone at your startup should know that they need to evangelize its awesomeness. Obviously you can’t force people to do this, but you can sit everyone down and explain that it’s going to be a challenge to recruit new talent and that you need their help. Employees at startups should get that it’s an all-hands-on-deck operation for everything, including acquiring talent. It doesn’t hurt to remind them though.

Talented people are willing to take risks with their careers, and there is nothing more risky than never taking a risk. The best thing you can do to attract these people to your startup is to work from the sense of excitement and intelligent risk-taking framed with a commitment to transparency. This is what people are looking for.

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?

LinkedIn recently pulled together data from its surveys to paint a picture that may or may not surprise you around the current hiring landscape. I’m sure you’ll find something that’s surprising and makes you rethink things. There’s a lot of talent out there just ready for you tap into.

70% of the US workforce is not actively seeking a new job (passive candidates)

87% of the US workforce (active and passive candidates) say they are open to new opportunities

#1 Reason why people change jobs: “Opportunity”

How they look for jobs:
1. Job Boards
2. Professional networks
3. Word of mouth

What makes them say yes to a new job:
1. Compensation
2. Professional development
3. Work-Life balance

How they hear about a job: Referral

Companies can expand their talent pool 10x through their employees’ networks

Employee referrals are a top source of quality hires

Top Talent Branding Tools:
1. Company website
2. Professional networks
3. Social Media

94% of candidates would like feedback on their interviews

89% of candidates say being contacted by their recruiter can make them accept an offer

We feel the most important takeaway from all of this is probably the size of the passive pool of talent: workers who are not actively seeking jobs, but are very open to seeing what’s out there and how they can grow. The quality hires are out there and while many come through employee referral, there are many more out there that a good recruiter can give you access to. If your rockstar employees are getting overworked, maybe it’s time to come up with a plan.

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?

Good hiring practices aren’t all that difficult but they do require a lot of follow-through. Using your instincts or “gut” to make the final call is an approach that works well for a lot of organizations, even if it’s harder for, say a staffing agency (ahem) to deal with an approach that has less rigor. Whether you’re hiring your first or 500th person, here are five things to focus on to make the winning choice.

1. Define the Role.

The first step of the scientific method, if you can think back to 7th grade, is to define the problem. Same sort of logic here, you want to keep the focus on the results you want to see from hiring someone and not get lost in the myriad nuances that engulf you once the hiring process starts.

2. Skype or Telephone Interview.

This will let you know if it’s worth the time and effort for a face-to-face interview with the person. It’s an easy way to separate the metaphorical wheat from the metaphorical yeah yeah you get it.

3. Check References.

Don’t skip this step. You can gain enormous insight especially from previous managers. Their enthusiasm, or lack thereof, speaks volumes.

4. Consider Training.

Even if you hire from the gut and have the utmost faith in your instincts, there’s probably training available that can make you even better. If you’ve had no training in interviewing and hiring then there’s a great chance that you’ll learn something that will pay off in a big way.

5. OnBoard Like a Champ.

How does this detail get looked over at so many companies, big and small? One CEO told us he didn’t mind a new-hire going through an awkward phase, he saw it as a rite of passage. This is not a good rite of passage. If you want to see a return on your investment for hiring, this is not a good strategy.

While it’s fun telling someone they’re hired (most of the time). The hiring process isn’t easy and it usually takes time. Sometimes you get lucky, but most of the time it’s tenacity that gets rewarded. Hiring right the first time sets your team up for success, and that’s the overarching goal. Follow these five steps and get there more quickly.

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?