Most resume tips on Youtube are not backed
by any data. It’s usually someone giving their personal
opinion on what a good Resume looks like. If you watch a few videos on the topic, you’ll
quickly realize that there are so many conflicting opinions about resume writing. And when you try to incorporate all these
different opinions in your own resume, you can easily find yourself in this rabbit-hole
of writing the “Perfect” resume. What if I told you that resume writing is
very simple and we have clear data on what works and what does not. Today I will give you evidence based tips
on resume writing. I will also tell you 3 mistakes that get a
resume rejected immediately. Not only that, I will also answer questions
like what is the best time of day to apply for a job. Believe it or not, knowing the answer to this
question can increase chances of getting your resume shortlisted by 89%. Let’s do this. Before we begin, there are a few myths people
have about resumes and job applications in general. I want to clear these misconceptions before
moving on to the resume tips. First myth about resumes that many people
believe in is that the Resume has to be one page only. In a study done by Zety.com, they found that
the median length of a resume is 369 words which is roughly equal to one page. But, your chances of getting shortlisted increase
if you have a 2 page resume. To be precise, with a 2 page resume, your
chances increase by 40% for entry level positions and 190% for a managerial position. So, a resume doesn’t have to be a one pager
and should be as long as needed. Second misconception people have about the
job application process is that they underestimate how hard it is to get a job. I know so many people who apply for 15-20
jobs, don’t get any offers and get disheartened. Then, they start questioning their resume
and start paying experts to write the “Perfect” resume for them. In reality, it takes 30-50 applications on
average to land a job because the success rate for job applications is around 2-3%. And if you’re applying for highly competitive
jobs like Software Engineer or Product Manager, the number of resumes you need to submit can
be much more than 50. So, if you are not finding any success after
applying for 20-30 jobs that you are qualified for, know that it’s perfectly normal and
do not quit. Last myth people have about resumes is that
they think that they need to write a resume from scratch. What they don't know is that there are so
many resources available online that can help you make a good resume very easily. And you don’t need to pay anything for a
beautiful template. If you watch this video till the end, I will
show you how to make a resume like this for free. Now that we have busted some myths, let’s
move on to resume writing tips. A study done by Cultivated Culture revealed
that only 48% of resumes contained the Linkedin profile of the candidate. The same study revealed that candidates who
add a well made Linkedin profile to their resume have a 71% higher chance of getting
an interview. I know that making a Linkedin profile is not
the most interesting task in the world. Infact, I also delayed making my Linkedin
for a long time. But making a profile on Linkedin has been
a game changer for my career. Linkedin helps me network with my peers in
the tech industry and keeps me updated on what’s going on in the job market. The best part about being on Linkedin however
is that recruiters can reach out to me on Linkedin. This not only introduces me to new job opportunities,
it also gives me a clear signal if I am developing skills that are valued in the job market. I’ll make a video on how to build a good
linkedin profile shortly. If that’s something you’re interested
in, you can subscribe to the channel. So, if you are among 52% people who don’t
have a linkedin profile, make a profile and add it to your resume. Who knows, you might not even need a resume
and start getting interviews directly through Linkedin. Another easy way to level up your resume is
by knowing how to start your resume. If you pause this video right now and go back
and watch the first 30 seconds of the video, you’ll realize that the first 30 seconds
of the video are much more animated than the last 30 seconds you just watched. That’s because it’s important to
hook the viewer with the first thing you show them. The same thing is true about resumes. Hiring managers tend to make their judgment
very quickly. I don’t know how true this is but some estimates
indicate that hiring managers spend 6 to 7 seconds per resume. And that's due to a simple reason. They have piles of resumes
to look at and they simply don’t have enough time to look at every resume carefully. In those few seconds that they actually do
look at your resume, they might not get past the first few lines that you wrote. So, you want to make sure those first few
lines count. But, how do you do that? Think about what differentiates you from the
rest of the candidates and write it at the top. For most people, it’s going to be the skills
they have. So, the best strategy would
be to start with a Skills section like this one. But if you feel you have something unique
that hiring managers would care about, start with that. So for example, if you went to some prestigious college,
or worked at a company that people regard very highly, or maybe you have an amazing
project that will blow the hiring manager’s mind, write that first. And this tip works both ways. If there’s something that you are not very proud
of, maybe you didn’t go to a good college or don’t have a good GPA, add it somewhere
at the bottom. Once the hiring managers have made their mind
that you’re a great candidate after reading the first half of your resume, they will be
more likely to let these things slide. Another simple way you can use to instantly improve
your resume is by using action verbs. A study done by TLNT showed that using action
verbs increases the chances of getting your resume shortlisted by 140%. Let me show you how to use action verbs through
this example. If you look at this resume, you will see that
each sentence in the project description starts with a verb like “Supported” and “Created”. These words add impact and purpose to whatever
you accomplished in the project. Here are a few other action verbs you can
use to make your resume stand out. Next trick to make an impressive resume is
adding quantifiable results. Let me explain this with this example. In this resume, we can see that each project
has been explained very well with the help of action verbs. At first glance, this resume might look impressive
to the untrained eye. Butvhiring managers like to ask a very simple
question after reading every project. And that question is “So what?”. In other words, they want to see the impact
of your work. So, if you “Created and usability tested
wireframes and prototypes”, So what? You need to add some measurable metric that
the hiring manager would care about. To add impact, at the end of every project, use a sentence like "This feature reduced the churn rate by 12%" The study done by Cultivated Culture showed
that 36% resumes have no quantifiable results. So, adding metrics in your resume would give
you an easy win. Same study by Cultivated Culture also revealed
that 51% of resumes contain buzzwords or cliches that hiring managers hate. If you’re using words like “highly motivated”
or “team player” in your resume, you’re doing nothing but making hiring managers bang
their head against the wall. That’s because they have come across these
buzzwords all the time and they do nothing to differentiate the candidate from the crowd. I mean who doesn’t think they are “self motivated” or great at "time management". If you ask for my opinion, you should avoid
writing the soft skills altogether. Here are some of the worst words to use according
to Forbes. So, steer clear of these words as much as
you can. Now before I give you some free resources
to make beautiful looking resumes, we need to talk about some mistakes that will instantly
get you rejected and how to apply for jobs to increase your chances of getting shortlisted. We’ll use the research done by Zippia.com
for this. A quick way to get your resume rejected is
by having a typo or bad grammar in there. 77% of hiring managers would reject you immediately
for that. 35% of managers will reject you for having
an unprofessional email. So,
[email protected] or
[email protected]
will end your job search very quickly. 34% of hiring managers would reject you if
you don’t have quantifiable results for your projects. Now that we know what doesn’t work, let's
discuss how to actually apply for jobs? The same study also revealed that sending
your resume between 6 and 10 am can increase your chances of getting shortlisted by 89%. Another trick that has personally worked for
me is applying for a job within 1 to 4 days of job posting. This can increase your chances of getting
an interview call by 65%. That’s because most resumes are actually
shortlisted within the first 4 days of job posting. In order to track all the new job posts, I’ve
a cool trick that I use all the time. On Linkedin, I search for jobs that I am interested
in. After that, I just set an alert on these jobs. By doing this, I get a daily notification
from Linkedin for jobs that were posted in the last 24 hours. I set aside an hour daily, preferably in the
morning between 6-10, to apply for these new jobs. Now that you know the core principles of how
to write a good resume, let me give you some free resources to make your resume look beautiful. There’s this website called flowcv.io that
lets you input all your information and skills. Once that’s done, you can preview your resume
using these different templates they have. When you finalize your resume, this website
lets you download your first resume for free. If you want more options for resume templates,
you can also use Canva. It’s not as easy to use as flow cv but will
get the job done. 39% of people who write resumes for career
change do so for higher salary. And the tech industry is one place you can
find higher salaries. If you want to know 5 tech jobs that pay more
than 100,000 dollars without knowing any coding, you can watch this video at the top. I will see you in the next one. Au revoir!