What Makes a Resume Good? 9 Signs to Know

In this article, I’ll outline a nine-step process for determining whether or not your resume is strong.

This post will explain what makes a strong resume and how to determine if your resume is good enough to land you a job after working as a recruiter for years.

If your CV isn’t earning you as many job interviews as you’d like, I’ll also discuss the modifications/fixes I suggest.

Let’s get going…

Is My Resume Good? Look For These Signs

When a recruiter or hiring manager looks at your resume, they are searching for proof that you have the skills necessary to thrive in their position.

Therefore, specifics regarding prior employment and accomplishments—especially prior employment and experience that are relevant to this employer’s position—are important components of a strong CV.

They will assess your schooling in the same way if you are an entry-level candidate and will be considering whether your history will enable you to start this work and achieve fairly fast.

That gives a broad picture of what makes a strong resume, but how can you tell if yours is sufficient? What can you do if you want to strengthen your resume?

Here are several indicators that your resume is strong.

1. It’s getting you job interviews

The best technique to find out “whether my resume is good?” is to take a look at the outcomes it’s producing (let’s say you’ve already begun applying for jobs).

Your resume’s main objective is to get you an interview invitation. Therefore, if that’s the case, it’s a surefire indication that your CV is already excellent. Your resume should be the first thing you attempt to enhance if you’re having trouble getting interviews or aren’t getting any at all.

Fortunately, the remaining points on this list will not only assist you in understanding what makes a successful resume, but they will also provide you with suggestions for precisely what to modify or improve if you haven’t yet received any interviews.

So let’s move forward.

2. Contains data and metrics instead of only text

Include analytics, data, and numbers in your CV rather than just text because this will help it stand out from the crowd.

Including numbers draws attention, makes the CV more interesting and increases the likelihood that it will be carefully studied.

(That’s one of the major difficulties; you’ve surely heard that recruiters only give each résumé a quick glance. It is real. They’ll take a quick look for a few seconds and determine whether or not to continue reading after that. They will read more carefully if you use numbers).

Additionally, adding numbers does not require that you work in sales. Anyone can do it, really.

Consider that you oversee the blog and social media for a healthcare organization. Although it has nothing to do with sales, you could include the following in your resume’s bullets:

• Gained 212 percent more followers on social networking
• 220,000 monthly readers of the managed blog
• Published six articles a week on average.

That seems a lot more impressive than simply stating that you are in charge of the company’s blog or social media accounts.

Actually, you shouldn’t ever begin a bullet on your resume with “Responsible for.”

I’ll elaborate further below.

3. Focused on results, not responsibilities

The words “Responsible for” on a CV make me cringe because I work as a recruiter. It is not noteworthy. It says nothing about what you did, how you served your employer, or how you performed in the role. All it tells me is what your employer gave you to do.

Consequently, attempt to begin the bullets and descriptions of your previous positions with verbs like “Grew,” “Led,” “Organized,” etc.

That will make a hiring manager like you within the first few seconds of them reading your resume!

This page has over 80 verbs and other terms that you can use in your resume.

4. Well-spaced and easy to skim

Here’s another thing hiring managers and recruiters dislike, which is also a sign that your resume isn’t yet strong enough to send out: massive paragraphs with no line breaks.

Add additional blank space. Increase the readability and appeal of your content to attract more interviewees.

Consider breaking up long paragraphs or, even better, making them into bullet points. I would advise writing one brief paragraph outlining each previous role in your work history, followed by all bullets.

The paragraph is actually optional. I’ve seen outstanding resumes with all previous employment listed in bullet points (after the job title, dates, location of each position, etc.)

5. Tailored to the job

In terms of what constitutes a strong resume, this is one of the most crucial components. However, a lot of job applicants skip this and miss out on interviews as a result.

Employers are examining your CV while keeping in mind the particular employment requirements they have.

So you can be missing out on interviews if you don’t modify and change your CV based on their job description.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take as long as it seems, and I’ve written up a thorough procedure you may use here.

If you’re not receiving job interviews and you’re not customizing your resume, you need to address this right away.

6. Keyword-optimized

Since a real person will always make the final decision, you should always create your resume for that person. However, you should still make sure that it will pass via online application systems.

Therefore, be sure to include keywords from the job description on your CV. This can be done in the job history part, the talents section, or the introduction/summary paragraph.

7. Error-free

If your CV has typos or other glaring flaws, you risk missing out on interviews.

Make sure you properly proofread it. Or, even better, ask a friend or member of your family to assist you.

If you must proofread something yourself, consider these two tips:

• Change the typeface to a unique style momentarily. This aids in error detection.
• Instead of beginning at the top, read each sentence from the bottom up. This further aids.

Check more than just the text, too. Ensure that formatting and typefaces are uniforms. Don’t, for instance, change the font in the middle of the document. This can occur if you were cutting and pasting portions of another document into your resume.

Even if it won’t help you land the job by itself, a flawless CV is a crucial part of any fantastic resume.

8. Modern and professional-looking

Last but not least, make sure your CV has a contemporary, polished appearance. Try to make it appear as though it was recently made and is current, but avoid using too many colors and distracting design elements.

It might be time for a redesign if the layout is dated or if you’re still utilizing a dated typeface, such as Times New Roman. (Just so you know, Calibri is a superior option.) You can find more formatting and font suggestions for resumes here.

9. No unnecessary info

Each item of information on your resume should be backed up with a justification that you can provide.

How does each bullet demonstrate to a potential employer that you would be a good fit for their position or that you are a capable worker? Each word you use should work to persuade the company that you are the best person for the job.

There is no set number of pages for a resume, but it shouldn’t be more than what is necessary to convey the important information that will persuade a potential employer to give you an interview.

You run the danger of overwhelming the reader and having them completely skip over your resume or quickly scan it without much interest if you include too much information or fail to cut the document down to the most important details.

Examples of Good Resumes

Let’s now examine some actual illustrations of strong resumes.

Here are a few screenshots to assist you in creating your own resume, with an emphasis on the Work Experience part, which most recruiters and hiring managers find to be crucial.

Example 1:

Example 2:

In this post, you may learn more about these job history examples and receive more assistance.

Quick Review: How to Know if Your Resume is Good

Looking at if you are getting job interviews is the greatest approach to determine if your CV is strong. Your resume’s primary function is to secure interviews. The CV itself, the jobs you’re applying for, or the manner in which you’re applying, all need to change if that’s not occurring.

We also talked about some specific aspects of a strong résumé. These consist of:

• Metric and data
• Writing about outcomes as opposed to what you were accountable for
• Making everything easier to read by using spacing and bullets
• Customizing your CV to the job requirements to demonstrate to employers how you would benefit them in their specific function
• Using the job description’s keywords
• Ensure that your resume is error-free by proofreading it.

Make sure you’re doing everything listed above before applying for a position because those are all areas that can help you land more job interviews.

You now understand what constitutes a strong CV and how to correct several typical issues.

Finally, we propose this tool from TopResume if you want a free online tool that will automatically tell you how strong your resume is.

Visit this website for additional free articles on resume writing and how to land more interviews.