Get Shortlisted with your resume.

How do you get Shortlisted with your resume when a recruiter may find hundreds of resumes for a single job opening. There is no time to carefully dig through each resume to see if a candidate has the ‘special something’ the employer is seeking. So what do you need to do to stand out in the crowd?

Recruiters are reviewing the resumes of submitted candidates to determine which individuals appear, on paper, to be a potential match for the position. But considering that a recruiter may get hundreds of resumes for a single job opening, there is little time to read through every candidate carefully.

Most recruiters will decide the fate of your resume in less than 30 seconds. If a recruiter cannot match your qualifications to that of the open position in that time frame, your resume is put aside. This means you need to sell yourself very quickly and capture the recruiter’s attention from the start.

What do you need to do to stand out in the crowd and get Shortlisted with your resume?

1) Your Professional Introduction.  Do consider the perspective of the recruiter/Hiring Manager. He/she is seeking a candidate who fits a job description and can bring value to an organization. They may not have time to delve deeply into your CV and slowly figure out who you are, so you need to connect the dots for them in an effective manner in your introduction.

It would help if you summarized your professional strengths and expertise quickly. Get the reader’s attention at the very top of your resume on why your accomplishments, skills, and experience matter.

2) An Area of Expertise section. Be sure to list your expertise and skills in a dedicated area of expertise section. This will help your Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) score as most companies use ATS to filter and shortlist their candidates. Details of what is ATS can be found in this wiki entry. If you need us to explain how ATS works and how it can affect you being shortlisted, you can get a Free Resume Review from us here.

3) Your key contributions and value to the company. The next step is to demonstrate the value you will contribute to the company. Recruiters are going to be looking for ways in which you will be an asset to the company. An easy way to ensure that your resume gets a more thorough review is to address this topic specifically.  Don’t leave it up the recruiter to guess if you will be an asset.

Still unsure of what to do on your resume? Did you know you can get a Free Resume Review from us here?

Are you looking for jobs in Singapore? You can find a listing of the most popular job sites in Singapore here.

Would you like to have more career advice for your job search in Singapore, you can also visit MyCareersFuture.

Would you like to know what the market rate for your salary in Singapore is? Visit the Manpower Ministry guide here.