Different Industries Need Different Resumes!

Different industries have different employment requirements - this is a simple fact of searching for a job. The reason for this is obviously different jobs have different roles and responsibilities to perform, hence the need for different types of information. You might have seen that nearly every job opening comes with a job description (JD) and it is there for a reason and purpose.

A JD clearly states the roles and responsibilities of the position as well as employer expectations pertaining to the job opening. It also contains several keywords relevant to the industry and job-specific requirements. The primary intent of a JD is to give job candidates a clear understanding of the potential employer’s requirements before they actually apply for the position.

It also clears up any doubt or confusion that applicants might have regarding the job opening, thereby letting them decide whether the opening is actually really relevant to them and something they want to actively pursue.

This perspective is something that employers and recruiters expect from job applicants before scheduling interviews. For hiring professionals, your resume serves the same purpose as it gives them a complete picture of your work experience, qualifications and skills.

In other words, it can be said that your resume creates a first impression with recruiters before you actually appear for the interview. In fact, to a very large degree whether you will be called for an interview depends on your resume.

On the basis of your resume, hiring managers usually perform initial screening and shortlist job candidates for the interview. Therefore, just like a JD, your resume must be crafted in such a way so that it easily conveys everything about you while leaving no room for confusion by the recruiter.

As already stated, every job has specific requirements and hence your resume should be perfectly tailored to your industry and the job opening you are applying for. This certainly boosts your chances of getting shortlisted for the interview while taking you an important step closer to your dream job.

To give you a broad idea of how you can make your resume best suited to any job opening in the industry you serve, we offer here a robust list of resume-building tips

Resume for Marketing

Like any other profession, a marketing resume should be one that can immediately grab a recruiter’s attention. So, if you want yours to stand out, follow the tips below:

• Make ample use of figures and stats to present your accomplishments. Hiring professionals actually look for strong evidence of exceptional performance, so quantifying your achievements can help you make your resume more noticeable
• Use an eye-catching marketing resume sample because recruiters generally get bored going through many resumes that look more or less the same. Thus, to improve your visibility use a striking resume template to help you stand out.
• Highlight skills that are pertinent to the marketing role and don’t forget to incorporate role-specific keywords to help boost your probability of securing a call to schedule an interview.
• Add web links to your resume. These may include your online portfolio, LinkedIn account and other social media handles, but only when you have kept them professional. Before providing social media information always be sure to carefully review your profiles to ensure there is nothing there that will raise a red flag.
• Keep the academic section as simple as possible. You can consider mentioning your grades, any academic awards received in school or college, involvement with any society or club and more, but don’t overdo it. Keep it simple and easy to understand.
• Begin your resume with a short summary, stating who you are, your strengths, and what your expectations are from your next job.
• You can mention two to three hobbies, just to let the recruiters know a bit more about your personally.

Resume for Technology

• Managers hiring for technical jobs closely look at certain details in a tech resume. Including such information can improve your chances of being noticed. Let’s look below for some of these tips:

• Make the header and summary impressive as these are going to be the very first thing read by recruiters, or, probably, if they fail to impress they may well end up being the only thing the read. The key is to keep everything crisp and to the point. If possible, consider using bullet points, as they help to organize information in a logical way.

• Customize your resume keeping in mind the employer’s requirements.

• List your skills in an easy to notice location. Here, you can mention programming languages, databases, coding tools and so on. Always include the ones you found in the corresponding JD.

• Include a professional summary comprising your work experience and accomplishments along with roles and responsibilities in your current and previous jobs.

• Do not include irrelevant details. Work experience that has no direct relationship with the job you are applying for can be excluded. In general, be brief about only your most recent 3-5 jobs.

• If you have worked on something non-technical for a specific period, include it with genuine reason for doing so. Explaining a momentary switch to a different sector is much better than having an unexplained gap in your career history.

• Only include relevant personal details; if you do coding or try learning new technologies in your free time you can definitely mention it.

• Always include relevant keywords as well as links to your professional portfolio, blogs, and social networks, but before providing social media information always be sure to carefully review your profiles to ensure there is nothing there that will raise a red flag.

• Avoid giving graduation and educational details unless you are an alumnus of an extremely prestigious institute. A seasoned professional with many years of work experience can also leave such information out.

• Mention accolades separately, including rewards and certificates you earned in your previous or current roles

Resume for Human Resources

An HR professional is expected to efficiently handle the human element of an organization. While HR itself is responsible for hiring and onboarding, a resume for HR roles is expected to be easily readable and yet compelling. Here is what you can do to better your resume while applying for an HR position.

• An intriguing headline can make a big difference so include a to-the-point, keyword-based headline, summarizing your skills and experience.
• Try adding facts and figures to back up your achievements. This could give you an edge over other job applicants.
• You may add positive interests and hobbies to the personal interests section, which usually comes at the end of a resume. Not only will this help you stand out from the crowd but it can show your diversity and that you are a well-rounded person.
• As an HR person, you must be aware of the importance of the applicant tracking system (ATS). Thus, keep your resume ATS-friendly by including relevant keywords.
• Don’t go overboard when including personal information. Retain a professional tone through the whole document.

Resume for Accounting

The life of an accounting professional revolves around data and spreadsheets. While ideally it should be easy to show this on a resume, translating it into something that recruiters like to see can be taxing. Let’s see how accounting professionals can give a boost to their resumes.

• Choose a functional design or template while keeping the details in reverse chronological order for maximum impact. Interestingly, many hiring managers prefer this format of representing information.
• Include all applicable keywords to easily get through the ATS during the preliminary screening. Consider going through the JD for these keywords to ensure you have the right ones.
• Highlight your work experience, and, if possible, don’t just include mainstream work experience, but also mention any paid/unpaid internships you may have had, as well as any accounting-related volunteer work done in the past.
• Besides technical expertise, make sure to include any “soft skills”, such as critical thinking, communication and dependability.
• Be wary about your use of verbs. Many accounting resumes fail to grab a recruiter’s attention because of weak verbs. Begin sentences using strong verbs such as spearheaded, supervised, headed, managed, analyzed and so forth.
• Before sharing your resume with a prospective employer, make sure to proofread the content for typos and grammatical errors to avoid ruining the first impression.

Resume for Customer Service

Customer service professionals deal directly with clients and customers and thus are on the frontline of any organization. On a day-to-day basis, they need to pacify agitated customers and effectively handle stressful situations with patience and calm.

• As a customer service professional , you are expected to possess great skills and qualities that can be sensibly woven into words in your resume .
• Rather than being general, quantify your past experience. Although customer support roles are somewhat similar across various sectors, the needs and expectations of each organization differ, so communicating in terms of facts and figures can help recruiters better understand your accomplishments.
• Always mention applications, software and tools (to respond to calls, mails, chats and messages) you are working with currently or have worked with in the past.
• According to a recent survey, more than two-thirds of hiring professionals indicated that they value soft skills more than technical proficiency. So, be sure to give equal importance to both technical and soft skills on your resume.
• Mention any leadership opportunities and promotions offered to you during your time at your current and previous employment. Listing them is important for you as a customer service professional as this reflects more than just your competence, vis-à-vis your dedication, ability to motivate people around you and of course stability.

Summary

A well-crafted, targeted resume is all important for a job seeker and must be given equal importance alongside every other effort you put in to land your dream job.

While the tips above will make your resume more expressive, impressive, readable and coherent (not to mention help improve its quality), going for a customized one for each opportunity can definitely help you move to the front of the line with HR.

So, check out our extensive portfolio of resumes and choose the one that suits you the best to create an ever-lasting impression.

Happy resume writing!