Your Resume Review

Hi Miranda,

Thank you very much for using our resume review service and for submitting your resume. I’ve read through the document you uploaded and I would make some observations, suggestions, and recommendations under the various headings below.

Overall View

You have the beginnings of a good ‘story’ to your resume, but your resume needs developing so that it ties into your next potential employer and shows what you can do for them. Ideally, some of that would be something other likely applicants could not do so well.

• The resume is brief, so it is hard to stand out against other potential candidates for jobs or grad scheme places.
• The ‘Summary’ section does not include quantifiable data, active voice, action verbs, and keywords. The resume summary can help employers quickly learn whether you have the skills and background they require.
• The ‘Skills’ section doesn’t fully showcase your capabilities. Your personal qualities are mixed in with your skills (hard skills + soft skills), creating an impression of confusion.
• Your soft skills need to be presented – these are crucial as they are usually transferrable skills. Perhaps put these under a new section called ‘Personal Qualities’ or ‘Transferable Skills’. Add in things such as teamwork, interpersonal skills, etc. that are relevant to you. Try to demonstrate these as well within your ‘Volunteering Experience’
• ‘Volunteering Experience’ section - Concisely describe your primary responsibilities and demonstrate your skills. Pair your responsibility with a key impact, using numbers to measure your success.
• ‘Awards’ section – well presented.
• Tailor your resume by trying to show the ‘story’ of your development and growth and how the next job is perfect for both you and the employer.
• One to two-page resume is good for your stage.
• Education is good to see and easily scannable.
• Your focus is mainly on the activities you have engaged in, rather than the value you can bring to a new employer.

I believe your challenge is to focus more tightly. The actions you can take are:

• Your resume is a marketing tool designed to capture attention and get you to the next stage. We can help you choose the right resume template.
• Include the keywords specifically relevant to the opportunity you are applying for.
• Rewrite to increase the chance of making a very positive impact when a reader scan-reads it.
• Ensure that you provide informative depth for when the reader reads properly.
• Structure your content to clearly show that you are one of the leading applicants compared to other likely applicants who will probably be similar to you.
• Ideally, show some unexpected added value that is not asked for but might give you an edge over the other applicants.

Towards these actions, some specific points are listed below.

Professional summary section

• Use the Ad or job spec as a guide for what to include in this section, and summarise your career to date, some key skills, and any career-related achievements. Focus on what you can bring or deliver to the potential employer, not what you want.
• After a more brief opening paragraph, use one-line bullet points to score against the requirements.

Volunteering section

• For each employer, say one or two lines about them, to show the scale of your responsibilities, relative to the next job you are applying for.
• Then use a few bullet points to show your achievements/value delivered in that role.
• In each bullet point, try to focus on describing your quantifiable achievements, not just duties and job responsibilities.
• Use the Problem-Action-Result (PAR) method to describe your success.
• Briefly explain (a short paragraph or a few bullets) the scope of your role.
• Strive to reduce unnecessary detail – people broadly know what a recruiter does, so only focus on what they want to see by using the ad as a guide.
• Always use the ad or person specification as your guide. Look at what they want, then showcase yourself as that person.

Skills section

• Include your soft and hard skills
• Ideally show some unexpected added value that is not asked for, but might give you an edge over the other applicants. Maybe you have extra language skills, but also a personal capability or a deep external interest may be of use here. This isn’t always possible, but it’s always worth exploring.

Other sections

• Missing other categories such as Certifications, Projects, Training,

Visual Presentation and Organization

• Your basic layout and sequence of sections are good, but consider adding more white space ( white space reduces visual clutter and makes content easier to read) or chose a professional resume template.

Resume Writing

• Make sure to correct the punctuation errors and improve consistency from section to section.

In conclusion

• You should have confidence that you have the skills and experience necessary, so it most definitely is possible to present yourself as one of the top eligible candidates more frequently.
• You can’t win everything as so much depends on the ad, the reader, and the specific competition so it’s all about relentlessly working to improve the odds in your favor with every word, sentence, and bullet point on the resume.
• Make sure you incorporate the relevant keywords. Prioritize these and make sure to show the highest priority ones prominently and in the correct sections.

I hope that helps you win the role you really want. If anything isn’t clear, or you feel you need further help to rewrite the resume to score more highly, do please come back to us, we’re always pleased to help.

Please feel free to email me with any questions. We’re here to help you put your best foot forward. Thank you,