Top 7 Ways to Improve Your Resume in 2023

Writing your own resume is not an easy task, we know. Especially in a saturated job market with fierce competition, learning all the right tips and tricks is a cumbersome process that most job seekers just don’t have time for. We want to try and make it simple for you, so we have put together a list of the top 7 ways on how you can improve your resume to make sure you are up-to-date with the latest trends in 2023.

1. Verify that your contact information is correct and working properly. A common mistake job seekers make is including an outdated email that they no longer use or a phone number that doesn’t have voicemail. This is a sure way for your resume to end up in the “black hole” without being called back. The ATS will check to make sure a candidate has contact information on their resume, and if not, it most likely won’t even make it to the review of the human eye.
2. Write a strong opening summary statement about how your background is relevant to the type of positions you are targeting. Brevity is key to not losing the reader’s attention, so keep it concise and straight to the point. This short paragraph should contain keywords relevant to the jobs you are pursuing, but not stuffed with repetitive phrases. Keep your sentences descriptive, but not too cumbersome to read. Tell a compelling story with an elevator pitch on how you are the right candidate for their job.
3. Include a list of 10 to 20 skills or key strengths. These should only contain two or three word phrases that accurately describe your skill set and try to match them as closely with the requirements of the job you are targeting to make sure you pass the ATS. This part of the resume can be one of the most difficult, as you will need to be able to analyzing the open position you are targeting, and try to translate their requirements into keyword phrases on your resume (as long as you possess that experience).
4. If possible, show accomplishments under your work experience as bullet points. It’s better to appear as an achiever and not just a doer. Quantifiable achievements are the best way to show a potential employer that you not only do the required tasks of the job, but go above and beyond to drive performance levels to new highs for the benefit of the company.
5. Keep your education relevant to your target career path, and only include active licenses and certifications. Too often we see clients including expired credentials that have nothing to do with the type of jobs they are pursuing. This can frustrate recruiters because you are causing them to read information that is completely irrelevant, wasting their time in the process.
6. References are not really included on resumes anymore, and instead are asked for by an employer during or after an interview. You can include something along the lines of “references available upon request,” but honestly this is just obvious and unnecessary.
7. Complex resume formats do not perform well in the applicant tracking systems and scramble information when it is parsed. Avoid too many flashy colors, hard to read fonts, and tables that cause parsing issues. Formatting can be a difficult process if you do not have experience with Microsoft Office programs or PDF editing tools. Make sure you have paid versions of this software or hire a resume writer to help you.