Standing Out with Your Resume

With so many other job applicants out there vying for limited roles, how can you ensure your resume stands out?

1. Customise your resume for each application

You need to catch a recruiter’s atenton from the very beginning of your resume and reel them in as it goes along. So, be sincere and genuine in each tailored document sent out instead of sending the same version out over and over again. Understand what each company is looking for and think about what you have that would meet their needs and make you the best candidate.

At the top of your resume, you can indicate your career objectves, a key summary of your skill sets, or both. One of the best ways to customise your resume is to ensure your career objectves and summary of skill sets are set according to what the company needs so that it is more relevant and targeted.

2. Highlight your skill sets and areas of expertise

Hiring managers don’t have the tme to look through what you did in your previous positon in detail, but they do shortlist resumes based on specifc skill sets. So if you don’t have the summary of your skill sets at the top of your resume, be sure to write a few lines at the start of each work experience to summarise the core skill sets in each positon.

For instance, if you’re applying for a business development positon, use a line or two to highlight some key skills such as business analysis, communicaton and client management.

On the other hand, if you’re looking at the role of a talent acquisiton specialist, then the relevant areas of expertse would be recruitng talents, conductng talent assessments and managing employee profles.

3. Add relevant experiences and/or valuable skill sets

Don’t limit your experiences to just work-related maters. Any short projects you’ve worked on or benefcial courses you’ve atended can be listed down as well.

These gigs may not necessarily relate to your course of study, but they do relate to other sectors such as volunteering, poverty alleviaton, communicaton and even crossculture fuency.

On a similar note, a parttme job in a service industry or teaching role can indicate your willingness to serve and cater to the needs of clients, including managing others’ expectatons, things that are important for any young professional.

4. Show the numbers

Impact can be measured in numbers and later elaborated on in detail. Think of any diferences you’ve made in previous companies or how you’ve grown through each and every academic and professional experience.

If you helped expand a client pool in your previous role, be specifc on the number of clients you brought in during that period of tme. Similarly, if you tutored students part-tme, you can indicate how you helped your students grow in specifc areas, such as encouraging them to read more.

This lets the employer know that you’re both a doer and a thinker, and that you’re also a selfstarter willing to come up with your own strategies.

5. Showcase your strengths and interests

Here’s where you can really make yourself stand out among other candidates – what are some of your unique skills and areas of interests that can help you professionally and allow you to contribute to the company?

These strengths and interests can range from your mastery of a second or third language to your interest and knowledge of a specifc geographic market. When you include this informaton in your resume, you help your prospectve employer get to know you beter and draw them into thinking about how else they can further tap on your talents.

IT and technology skills are greatly valued these days, so if you have a keen interest in coding or programming, take up online courses to further your interest – and don’t forget to state the certfcates which you’ve atained.

Apart from highlightng your educational and extracurricular awards, achievements and leadership qualites, briefy include your personal interests at the end of your resume too.

Partcipaton in team sports is of partcular interest to employers as it indicates a high measure for success in a corporate environment. An ability to play a musical instrument goes the same way; it demonstrates your focus and discipline. First impressions may not be everything, but they defnitely do make a diference. Likewise, submitng a top-notch resume will help you stand out!

6. Time your submissions

Last but not least, remember that tme is precious. Try not to wait tll the last minute to submit your job applicaton! Not only will you need tme to proofread your resume, but some companies may choose to bring forward submission deadlines due to overwhelming responses.

Sample Resume

JONATHAN WONG

Mobile: 8765 8903 E-mail: jonathan.wong@gmail.com

CAREER OBJECTIVE

To develop and engineer alternatve and cost-efectve solutons that beneft existng company products.

SKILL SET SUMMARY

Able to work efectvely under pressure, commercial awareness, interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills.

EDUCATION Singapore University

• Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering), Honours • Graduatng GPA: 3.7 • Expected date of graduaton: May 2022

Aug 2019 – present

RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Research Assistant, Fibre Optcs Lab, Singapore University Aug – Dec 2020

• Assisted with research on power fbre laser systems and their practcal industrial applicatons • Set up, maintained, and catalogued equipment used in research experiments • Coded programmes to flter and analyse gathered data, in order to assist with interpretaton of research fndings

Future Electronics Singapore, Intern May – July 2021

• Actvely sourced for potental Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) suppliers of key components in Malaysia • Identfed more cost-efectve alternatves to key components used in company products. Theoretcally reduced producton costs by 5% as a result • Communicated directly with senior management during the sourcing process and submited report of fndings to them

OTHER EXPERIENCE Two Geeks, Rafes Square store, Sales Representatve May – July 2020

• Successfully promoted digital products and was awarded “Best Sales Person” within frst month on the job for exceeding sales target by 15% • Assisted customers with relevant queries on hardware and sofware products • Reconciled cash at daily close of business

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Chairman, Public Relatons, Engineering Society Aug 2021 – Aug 2021

• Led a group of eight commitee members to publicise club events, which successfully increased club membership by 20% • Encouraged club members to actvely partcipate and help out in club events

Soccer Team Captain, Singapore University Jan 2020 – Present

• Currently playing on university team’s frst division. Led team to win the inter-university Lion Cup in 2018 • Responsible for selectng and motvatng team members, and organising and conductng bi-weekly training sessions • Liaised with team captains at other universites to coordinate practse matches

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Profcient in Microsof Ofce, Java, and C/C++ programming • Languages: Fluent in English and Mandarin (both spoken and writen) • Enjoys outdoor sports, partcularly soccer and ultmate frisbee • Regularly partcipates in volunteer work

REFERENCES

Dr Edwin Wong

Senior Lecturer Faculty of Engineering, Singapore University Tel: 9085 6721 Email: edwin.wong@su.edu.sg

Mr Thomas Kumar

Operatons Manager, Future Electronics Singapore Tel: 9983 7832 Email: kumar.thomas@future-e.com

Create your free account now at