by ResumeSpice Consultant | Jan 13, 2023 | Candidates
Times are tough and the economy is uncertain. If you’re wondering if you should polish your resume, it certainly couldn’t hurt. If you do feel the need to launch a search for a new job in 2023, you’ll have your resume ready to go, so you can hit the ground running.
However, before you get to work on updating your resume, there are a few trends to be aware of…especially if it’s been a while since your last job search. Keep the following five trends in mind so that when you apply, you impress hiring managers.
Trend #1: Demonstrate growth, effectiveness.
With a potentially rocky road ahead in 2023, you want to be able to demonstrate how you’ve helped past employers to navigate difficult or uncertain situations. If you’re not sure what specifically to put on your resume, then review job postings from potential employers you’re interested in. They’ll make their needs and pain points clear, so you can address them on your resume with relevant examples of ways you’ve helped past employers in similar situations. Don’t forget to include an example in your cover letter, as well.
Trend #2: Connect the dots from accomplishments to impact.
Another important takeaway when adding 2023 trends to your own resume is to go beyond simply quantifying your work to showing the impact it has made. For instance, if you renegotiated a contract that saved the company $100,000, where was the company able to invest those savings and grow as a result? Connect the dots between your accomplishments, the impact they made with the company, and why that was important.
Trend #3: Keep your resume simple and make it easy to understand.
Your resume is the highlight reel of your career. Keep it concise and simple, so it’s easy to read for hiring managers and see quickly why they should call you for an interview.
For instance, focus on the top four or five skills – and the impact they’ve made – on your resume at the top with a Summary of Qualifications. This will likely change from job to job since you should be customizing it with every application.
The same goes for bullet points under each position you’ve held. Focus only on the most important details and strongest skills. Don’t go overboard with 10-12 bullet points, just the top 3-5 that are more relevant.
Simplicity is also important when it comes to formatting. Unless you work in a creative field, don’t add graphics and fancy design elements to your resume.
Make the case clear as to why you’re a good fit and stick to basic fundamentals for resume formatting (think bold job titles, bullet point lists, and wide margins). Hiring managers want an easy-to-follow resume, so they can tell fast if you’re a good fit for the position.
Trend #4: Don’t forget about keywords.
Applicant Tracking Systems are here to stay, and companies large and small use them to screen resumes. So you’ll need to format your resume for these as well. The most important aspect is including keywords. Don’t stuff them all over your resume, but do sprinkle them in sparingly.
Not sure what keywords to include? Look to the job posting for the most relevant ones for each unique position, so you can optimize your resume for the ATS and get it in front of a hiring manager. You can also use online tools to find out what keywords are best for specific positions.
Trend #5: Show some personality in your cover letter.
Your resume details your skills, accomplishments and what sets you apart in terms of abilities. However, your cover letter should show some personality.
Tell a story that highlights a key soft skill you have and how this can help you get the job done. Explain why you want to work for the company and how you can add value, whether you love public speaking or are amazingly organized and detail oriented. You’ll stand out to the hiring manager but showcasing both your technical strengths and the soft skills you can bring to the table.
Ready to launch a search with a sharp resume?
Get help from the resume writers at ResumeSpice. Whether you simply need some edits, or are starting from scratch, we’re here to help you strengthen your resume, so you can get the best results from it. Simply call 832.930.7378 or contact us online if you’re ready to find out more.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Dec 23, 2022 | Candidates
Writing a resume can be challenging enough. However, if you have a mix of full-time and temporary jobs, or mostly temporary jobs, it can be tricky to know how to list them – or if you should include them at all. Here’s a look at the pros and cons, so you can create a resume that works for you.
When to List Temp Jobs & When to Avoid It
In most cases, you should list your temporary work. After all, you don’t want a hiring manager to think you have a big gap in your work history when really you were employed in temporary assignments.
The question is how to list it. For instance, do you list each job separately as its own position, or do you group them together under a “Temporary Jobs” subhead? The decision is up to you, however, it’s one area where a professional resume writer can make the best recommendation.
The only time when listing a temp job can hurt you is if it’s far outside your field. For instance, if you’re applying for a job in accounting, and you took a temp job at a seasonal restaurant to make ends meet, then don’t want highlight it on your resume – unless there’s something relevant to the position you’re applying to.
How to Put Temp Work on Your Resume
If you decide to include your temporary jobs on your resume, you need to approach it properly. Otherwise, your resume might look confusing and messy. Generally, you should list your jobs in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent position.
Next, be sure to state the employer’s name, your job title, and label it as temporary. If it lasted for two months and you don’t indicate it was temporary, you’ll look like a job hopper. Avoid this by calling out your jobs as temporary. Also, list your dates of employment, your duties, and highlight any achievements, just like you would with a full-time job.
Here's an example:
XYZ Corp.
Temporary Receptionist, August 2022-November 2022
- Greeted up to 80 clients and visitors and answered 60+ calls each day, connecting callers with the appropriate individual.
- Prepared weekly bank deposits averaging $72,000.
- Proactively responded to email inquiries from prospects within 24 hours.
- Managed travel arrangements for senior leadership team, consisting of six directors, on a regular basis.
Generally, if you’ve had a couple of positions like these, then you can list them each separately. However, if you worked with a staffing agency and your career basically consists of only temporary jobs, then take a different approach to the way you discuss them on your resume.
Instead of listing them individually, group jobs under the name of the staffing company. This will make it easier for hiring managers to scan and understand.
Here's an example:
ABC Staffing Company, 2018 – Present
Temporary Receptionist
Contracted with the staffing company to fill a range of administrative opportunities as a front-end receptionist in industries, such as accounting and finance, as well as marketing and legal. Performed a variety of diverse duties and tasks, ranging from making travel arrangements to answering phones, greeting guests, and managing office supplies.
- 123 Co. (March 2018 – November 2018): List tasks and accomplishments here.
- Smith Mfg. (December 2018 – June 2019): List tasks and accomplishments here.
- Jones Inc. (July 2019 – May 2020): List tasks and accomplishments here.
- Crane Co. (August 2021 – April 2022): List tasks and accomplishments here.
- Smith Mfg. (May 2022 – November 2022): List tasks and accomplishments here.
Whatever way you opt to list your temporary work experience, you want to impress the hiring manager. Besides providing a professional resume that is clear and easy-to-read, also:
Include outcomes.
Don’t simply list what you do in your temporary roles, but the objectives you helped the company achieve. The more you’re able to paint a picture, using specific examples of the value you added, the better your chances of getting a call for an interview.
Stick to the facts.
You don’t have say you’re a “driven performer” or a “hard-working collaborator.” Anyone can claim these generic statements and there’s no way to back them up. Instead, stick to the facts of what you’ve done and the results you’ve achieved. Hiring managers will take you more seriously, as a result.
Be relevant.
Don’t include unnecessary information, like hobbies or personal details. Instead, provide only information that is most relevant to the job. To do that, read through the job description as you’re writing your resume and ask yourself what skills, tasks, duties, and achievements are most important to highlight. This means you’ll be tailoring your resume for each employer, taking more time, but yielding better results.
Need help with temp jobs on your resume?
At ResumeSpice, we work with candidates with many different career backgrounds. Let us help you transform your experience into a clear and compelling resume that helps you land your dream job. Simply call 832.930.7378 or contact us online to get started.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Dec 16, 2022 | Candidates
Work in marketing and looking for a new job? There are opportunities in a wide range of specialties, all requiring different skill sets and abilities.
However, they do have a few things in common, which you need to cover on your resume to land your dream job. Whether you’re a creative director, graphic designer, senior copywriter, account executive, or analytics expert, here’s a look at three of them:
Creativity.
Marketing is about promoting an idea or product, building relationships with customers, and looking for new ways to grow market share. This all requires creativity. So whatever type of position you’re looking for in marketing, it’s important to highlight your creative abilities.
This is key if your experience is in areas like photography, design, or writing. However, even if your background is more strategic or in sales or project management, you still need to demonstrate your capacity for creative thinking. This is what helps companies to inspire their sales people, explain and promote products and services, capture more attention from customers, and ultimately sharpen their creative edge.
Some examples of ways to cover your creativity on your marketing resume include:
- Developed content for company blog that increased readership by 30% over the course of 1 year.
- Developed social media posts that highlighted new company products with a 22% clickthrough rate.
- Designed infographics for a campaign that promoted a new company service, leading to a 10% increase in sales.
- Designed collateral materials for a tradeshow that led to the company securing its largest account in its history.
Strategic Thinking.
Another skill that is important to have in marketing it strategic thinking. It’s critical whether you’re designing a website or overseeing a major marketing campaign.
When you think strategically, you’re essentially defining an objective, identifying ways to achieve that objective, and creating recommendations for the best option to move forward with. Being a strategic thinker is the opposite of being an instinctual or spontaneous thinker. It means you ask questions, can identify what you want to achieve and the obstacles in the way, know your options for solutions, and can identify the most effective one.
Whether you’re communicating with consumers, vendors and partners, employees, or the general public, you need to think strategically to cut through the clutter and get noticed. Otherwise, you’re simply more noise.
So how do you highlight your strategic thinking skills on your resume? Here are some ways:
- Developed and launched a digital marketing strategy that delivered a 19% profitability gain.
- Created a content marketing plan and strategy that increased number of organic leads by 32%.
- Initiated a post-click marketing platform to improve on-page conversions by 12%.
- Generated 250 new sales leads for company with marketing strategy for national tradeshow.
Communication skills.
Marketing is all about communication, whether it’s written, verbal, or visual and whether you’re communicating in-house or to those outside the company. Strong communication skills are therefore vital to include on your resume, so you can demonstrate your ability to inform and inspire, whatever your marketing role is.
This goes beyond communicating in actual marketing materials, but also with your team and other players within the company. If you’re commonly tasked with giving presentations, for instance, to get buy-in from senior leaders, then your communication skills are essential. You’ll also need to be able to go back and guide your team based on feedback from company leadership to ensure everyone is on the same page and progressing in the right direction.
When it comes to discussing communication on your resume, some ways to focus on it include:
- Managed a team of 12 individuals to launch a new marketing initiative to promote a company product that increased sales by $2.1 million.
- Developed training materials for new company employees to onboard them effectively, leading to a 45% increase in retention after six months of employment.
- Improved close ratios for sales team by 27% with quality print and digital collateral, along with a landing page for customers and prospects to learn more.
- Routinely presented pitches to company leadership at the firm and also presented a marketing trends seminar at three industry association meetings.
When your resume highlights these three skills – creativity, strategic thinking, and communication – you’ll demonstrate to hiring managers that you have what it takes to perform the job.
Keep in mind, just as in marketing when you focus more on the benefits and less on the features, it’s important for you to focus more on your achievements and less on the tasks you performed. This means listing quantified outcomes wherever you can and providing specific examples of how your work benefitted the company.
Want Help With Your Marketing Resume?
If you’d like help writing a winning resume that lands you the job you want, ResumeSpice is ready to get to work. We’re professional resume writers who know what hiring managers want to see on resumes and can help you craft one that leads to the next step: an interview. Simply call 832.930.7378 or contact us online.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Nov 11, 2022 | Candidates
Resume writing can get complicated, especially if you’re not sure which format to follow. This all depends on a number of factors.
For instance, are you a recent college graduate? Or do you have decades of experience? Also, have you worked in temporary roles in the past and are now looking for a permanent option? Or do you only have full-time positions to list?
The answer to these questions will impact which format is best for your job search. It’s important to know ahead of time because hiring managers only quickly scan resumes. If yours isn’t in the right format, it will get sidelined, fast.
To help ensure that doesn’t happen to you, and that you get a call for an interview, here are a few common types of resumes and the pros and cons of each format.
Reverse Chronological Resume
The reverse chronological resume is the standard for most companies and hiring managers. This is where you list your work history in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position.
After your work history, generally you’ll include education, and then any awards, accolades, and certifications, followed by miscellaneous information, such as volunteer roles or literacy with a certain computer program that’s important for the job.
This is the resume format used in a wide range of industries, from accounting and finance to healthcare and many others. If you have a solid work history and years of experience, then this resume format can help you highlight it.
The only con to this resume format is that it will show any gaps in employment. If you were out of the workforce for a period of time, you should discuss why in your cover letter so it doesn’t count against you. You can also point to any courses or volunteer opportunities you were involved with during that time away from the workforce.
Online Resume
If you’re thinking an online resume is the best fit, one of the common places to post yours is in LinkedIn. This way, hiring managers can not only see your resume, but also learn more about you through your summary, recommendations and any additional information, like links to work samples, you can provide. This, in turn, can paint a vivid picture as to why you’re the best fit for a particular job opportunity.
Even if you submit a traditional resume in a Word document or as a PDF, having a LinkedIn URL is a great way to stand out. Again, you are able to provide more information than what will fit on your resume.
As a result, a hiring manager can find out specific details about your work accomplishments, read testimonials and recommendations from those you’ve worked with in the past, and review any posts you’ve published establishing you as a thought leader in the industry.
Additional Tip: DON'T Use a Functional Resume
In a previous blog, we laid out several reasons to avoid using a functional resume. Rather than listing work history in order, this type of resume focuses on skills and experience that match the particular job you are applying for. The issue with this type of resume is that it’s often used to hide a spotty work history or gaps in employment. Hiring managers know this, which is why this type of resume is a clear red flag for them.
Also, we’ve mentioned previously that your resume may only get around six seconds of a recruiters’ time when they pull it up. That’s a very short period to decide if a candidate should move forward or be taken out of the running completely. A functional resume hinders recruiters from understanding your career path timeline, or even the exact details. Functional resumes require digging and recruiters do not have enough time to connect your skills to your job history. Stick to a format that always places your skills and achievements next to your company and tenure.
Need more help writing your resume?
We hope the above tips have helped as you look to revamp your resume this year. Should you need further assistance, ResumeSpice has a team of professional resume writers who know what hiring managers want to see on resumes. We can craft yours from scratch or polish an existing one, ensuring it’s in the best-fit format and communicates why you’re a strong contender for the role. Ready to get started? Simply call 832.930.7378 or contact us today.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Oct 28, 2022 | Candidates
In today’s day and age, having a digital portfolio is a must for certain positions. It can help you distinguish yourself from other candidates, showcase your track record of successful accomplishments, and land the job. If, however, you’re not familiar with this kind of portfolio, or what types of jobs it’s best suited for, here’s everything you need to know.
What Is a Digital Portfolio?
A digital portfolio is simply a sampling of your best work available in digital format. With this collection, it’s easy for hiring managers to click a link and see actual examples of past projects you’ve completed. This gives them visual evidence that you have what it takes to do the job and thrive at their company.
You don’t want to include all your work in your portfolio, just the most compelling pieces from your work history, or those that are most relevant to your current job search. If you already have a digital portfolio but haven’t updated it recently, then now’s the time to delete old work and add fresh samples so you can make the best impression possible on hiring managers.
Who Uses a Digital Portfolio?
Digital portfolios aren’t expected for every job. Rather, they’re best used in fields, like marketing, PR, web design, photography, videography, and web engineering. They can also be a great way to capture the attention of the hiring manager in fields like journalism and photo journalism, as well as more technical jobs like for architects and developers.
What’s In a Digital Portfolio?
It depends on the field you’re in. It can include anything from samples of your writing work to photographs, drawings, specs, illustrations, videos, blueprints, animation, and even spreadsheets. Whatever you choose to include, just make sure it’s the best way to showcase your professional abilities and creativity.
Beyond actual samples of your work, your portfolio should also include:
- Professional summary. This is essentially a few sentences that introduce the portfolio and explain who you are and what you do. If you have any specialized skills or unique expertise, you can list it here. Alternately, you can create an “About Me” section if you’d prefer to write something longer.
- Relevant skills. List the skills you have that are most relevant to your job search and that are important to highlight.
- Whether it’s a project completed or an award or recognition you earned, listing it on your portfolio will further set you apart.
- Be sure to include your actual resume or a link to download a PDF of it, so employers and recruiters can easily access it.
- Contact information. Include your name, phone and email.
Why Is It Good to Have a Digital Portfolio?
Having a digital portfolio can help set you apart from other candidates. Despite the worker shortage, employers still want the best-fit talent for their openings. If other candidates don’t send in a digital portfolio, or their portfolios are weak or messy, then you’ll go a long way in persuading the hiring manager you’re the best fit for the role.
Where Should It Be Linked to On a Resume?
When it comes to your digital portfolio, it’s important to link to it in the right way. If you include a long URL web address, for instance, your resume will look sloppy. Instead, create a text hyperlink in your resume that connects the hiring manager to your portfolio. This looks cleaner and more professional.
When you take this approach, you can even personalize the link to something such as: “Mike Smith’s Portfolio” or “Samples of Emma Jacob’s Work.” This way, it’s clear what you’re linking to and it’s also more inviting for a hiring manager to click on.
As for where to list this hyperlink, you can place it right in your header where your name and contact information are listed. This way, it’s front and center and difficult for the hiring manager to miss. You can also opt to place it below or beside your header. Just make sure it stands out and doesn’t get lost in your resume text.
Before you send along your resume with a digital portfolio link to a hiring manager, send it to a friend or family member. Make sure they can click on the link and that it takes them to your portfolio. If there’s a problem, you can troubleshoot it before sending it to employers.
Need More Help Standing Apart In Your Job Search?
Turn to ResumeSpice for our resume writing service. We’re professionals in the field and know how to make the case that you’re a great fit for the job through a customized resume, cover letter, professional bio and more. You’ll put your best foot forward with help from our team. Simply call 832.930.7378 or contact us online to get started.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Oct 21, 2022 | Candidates
You could be the best-fit candidate for the job. However, if your resume isn’t solid, then getting a call for an interview is a long shot. The good news? There are a few common resume mistakes job seekers make and some simple ways to avoid them.
Here’s a look at three common resume mistakes:
Mistake #1: Not editing your resume for the job your applying for.
When it comes to your resume, cookie-cutter doesn’t cut it. If you don't edit your resume for the job you're applying to, hiring managers will notice. They want to know why you stand apart from other candidates and what specific skills and abilities will help you perform well and meet expectations. These are going to be unique to the job.
If you send your generic resume without these details, then it’s not going to make a favorable impression. Instead, those candidates with customized resumes for that job will get the call for the interview.
What to do: Avoiding this mistake is simple. Simply read through the job description thoroughly and make sure to list your skills that match the required skills for this particular job.
Offer specific examples as to why you’re a good fit and can hit the ground running in your resume and on the cover letter. Make sure you’re also using keywords from the job listing to best tailor your resume for both Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and hiring managers.
Mistake #2: Oversharing.
Honesty is the best policy when it comes to a job search. Yet, that doesn’t mean you should overshare. Hiring managers don’t need to know about the job you had in high school at the mall. Nor do they need to know about your personal interests and hobbies. Skip these details on your resume. If you do include them, you’ll not only come off as unprofessional, but take up valuable space with irrelevant information.
What to do: In the era of social media and oversharing, the lines can get blurred between what’s personal and what’s professional. Keep in mind, though, that hiring managers don’t want to know about your personal life and hobbies. They simply want to know what you can do for them if they hire you.
The only time there’s an exception is if a hobby or personal accomplishment is relevant to the job or company. For instance, if you’re applying for a job at fitness equipment manufacturer and you’re an avid athlete and use their brand, then this information might be useful to touch on in your resume and your cover letter.
In any other case, though, leave out personal information and stick to focusing on your professionals abilities and accolades. This means avoiding religion, politics, financial status, side hustles or gig jobs you have (unless relevant to the job or employer), or if you’re married or have kids. None of this is pertinent to the employer or the job.
Mistake #3: Poorly formatted resume.
Writing a resume can be tricky when you have limited space and a lot of information to include. Yet, for every job opening, hiring managers receive dozens or even hundreds of resumes. There isn’t enough time in their day to read them all word for word. It’s why a concise resume with proper, clear formatting is key. If yours isn’t easy to scan through because it’s too long or overly verbose, it might not get read at all.
What to do: Once you’ve written your resume, read through it and try to edit out any words or paragraphs that are too lengthy. Be as concise as possible with your language.
Also make sure your resume is formatted properly. This includes with boldface fonts for your job titles or employer names, along with bullet points. Format it so the font size is at least 10 or ideally 12 points and there are wide margins. This will make it easier for the hiring manager to read through quickly.
Another key step? At the top of your resume, include a professional summary or summary of qualifications. This should be 3-5 skills or accomplishments that are most important for a particular position. The hiring manager will review these first and if you make your case well, you should get a call for interview. It can change each time you apply for a job, so you’re tailoring the details to a particular employer’s needs.
Your resume is your ticket into the job interview process and a key part of getting hired. If any of these mistakes sound familiar on your resume, fix them now to can increase your odds of getting an interview – and hopefully the job.
Need more help writing your resume?
ResumeSpice offers a team of professional resume writers who know what employers want to see on a resume. We can help polish yours, or write it from scratch. Whatever kind of help you need, you’ll get a resume that’s more compelling and gives you a leading edge over other candidates. Simply call 832.930.7378 or contact us online to get started.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Sep 30, 2022 | Resume Writing
When it comes to the skills on your resume, they generally fall into two categories: hard or soft skills. Employers are interested in seeing a mix that are most relevant to the job.
However, if you’re not really sure what these are or which are important to highlight on your resume, here’s what to know.
Hard vs. Soft Skills
Hard skills are technical skills that are related to your ability to do a job. These can be gained through education, courses, training, seminars, and on-the-job experience. Generally, these can also be measured in specific ways, so they are easier to spot and evaluate during the hiring process.
In manufacturing, for instance, a hard skill would be knowing how to operate a forklift. In IT, it would be understanding how to code a website. For office management positions, on the other hand, a hard skill would be knowing how to create and analyze spreadsheets
Soft skills are less tangible. These are personality traits that help people thrive in certain positions and with other people. They can include anything from communication and collaboration skills to motivation and work ethic, organizational skills, being detail-oriented and more.
In recent years, employers are looking more and more at soft skills. While technical skills are always important for a role, companies are recognizing that soft skills are also critical to the success of their team.
It’s why, when you’re in the midst of the hiring process, a company might have you take a personality or psychometric test to assess your attributes and personality traits. This can help them find out how you will react in certain situations, so they can decide who will be the best fit candidate for the position.
What Soft Skills to Focus On
The soft skills that are important to list on your resume depend on the specific job and company. If you’re not sure, do some research. Go back and re-read the job posting. Also review the company’s website, social media profiles, and any news articles you can find. This should give you some clarity on which soft skills the company finds important.
In general, some key soft skills employers are interested in are:
Each day, different challenges come your way. Being able to remain flexible and calm, adapt, and come up with a solution – without a lot of hand holding – is key for many companies. Other similar soft skills that are important to employers include creative thinking and organizational and planning skills.
No matter what industry you work in, demonstrating a positive attitude can deliver a variety of benefits to a company. Those who deliver a constant stream of negativity instead can deplete energy, motivation and morale. However, those with a quiet sense of optimism and a positive attitude are those who can turn setbacks around and remain motivated.
Employers want to hire people who can handle challenges and changes on a routine basis. This generally comes down to an individual’s ability to tolerate and cope with stress. When the ground under your feet starts to shift, how do you react? When you can tolerate an obstacle and recover quickly, you’ll be more successful on the job. Other similar traits that are desirable include adaptability and resourcefulness.
- Collaboration & Communication
The ability to work well with others and communicate effectively, both in person and via writing, are other examples of highly sought-after soft skills. Can you work with a dynamic team of diverse people with different perspectives? Are you able to persuade others to see your side on a matter? Or can you empathize with those you might not agree with? These are all traits that can help you remain calm and carry on in the office.
How to List Soft Skills On Your Resume
When it comes to soft skills, these can be trickier to list on your resume. Saying you’re a “team player” is vague and generic. Any candidate can claim to be a good collaborator. However, if this soft skill is key to a particular position, show rather than tell.
For instance, explain a certain project or problem you were able to solve using your collaboration skills and what the outcome was. Sharing these kinds of successes will give a hiring manager confidence you have what it takes to succeed in the role.
You can discuss these in different sections of your resume, such as the “Summary of Qualifications” at the top. You can also highlight them in your “Work History” if a certain soft skill was particularly important for your current role or a past position. If you possess a rare soft skill, be sure to also talk about it on your cover letter in more detail.
Get Professional Resume Help from ResumeSpice
At ResumeSpice, we have a team of professional resume writers who can help you highlight all the right skills on your resume, including soft and hard skills. We’ll help you craft a resume and cover letter that gets you noticed – and delivers results. Ready to get started? Simply reach out at 832.930.7378 or contact us online.
by ResumeSpice Consultant | Sep 16, 2022 | Resume Writing
Whatever industry you work in or your professional level of experience you have, computers are a part of everyday work life. While you might not need advanced skills, most jobs do require at least some level of proficiency in both hardware and software skills. So what’s the difference?
Hardware skills involve understanding how to operate a computer. At higher levels and in more technical fields, it might involve troubleshooting issues or changing or fixing broken parts. However, even at the most basic position, it includes knowing how to turn a computer or other device on and off and use it properly.
Software skills, on the other hand, are those skills that revolve around actual applications and programs. If you don’t know what a particular employer uses, they will generally train you on their different software systems. This is part of the onboarding process. If, though, you’re able to demonstrate experience and proficiency in a software system they already use, this can help set you apart from other candidates.
Bottom line? Whether you work in IT, or in manufacturing, law, medicine, food service, hospitality, customer service, or a different industry, you need computer skills on your resume.
Which are the most sought-after computer skills employers look for? Here’s a look at the top 5.
#1: MS Office or G Suite
Most companies use Microsoft Office or G Suite in some capacity, so being proficient in one or both of these will help you get up and running faster on the job. This includes applications like Google Docs, or Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
If you’re applying for positions in administration or as an office manager, for instance, then these programs will be even more important to highlight on your resume or in your cover letter. Likewise, if you’ll be working in sales or another position in which making presentations or reporting data are important, then proficiency in programs, like Excel and PowerPoint, or Google Spreadsheets, will be key.
#2: Communication Tools
Whether a company uses Slack, Skype, Meetup or Zoom, experience with these programs will help position you as a strong candidate. If the position is telecommute, hybrid or remote, then highlighting your knowledge in these areas is especially important. Likewise, if the job description lists one of these, such as Slack, then including your experience with this application will help increase your chance of getting a call for an interview.
#3: Accounting Programs
Other programs that are important to know for certain finance-related positions include FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Sage50, Zoho Books, or Xero. Whether you’re an accountant, office manager, or accounts payable assistant, knowing one or more of these will be helpful in your future role.
#4: Social Media
From Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and more, knowing your way around these and other social media sites is crucial for certain positions. Think marketing, public relations, and communications. However, if you’re working in an administrative role for a small business or a start-up, for instance, you might also be charged with managing these channels.
In addition to knowing how to navigate your way through these sites, it’s also important to be able to analyze the results, such as from software like Google Analytics or Hootsuite. These are social media management platforms that enable you to monitor the effectiveness of your social media strategy and make changes when needed.
#5: Computer Programming
If you’re applying for a position in IT, then you’ll need to showcase your technical skills. However, other positions, like those in marketing, can benefit from computer programming skills, too.
So, if you’ve get them, flaunt them on your resume and in your cover letter. For more technical positions, like the role of computer programmer or web designer, it’s important to demonstrate proficiency in areas like HTML, Java and UI / UX.
How to List Computer Skills On Your Resume
Now that you know the top skills to showcase on your resume, the next step is writing about them in the best way. For instance, rather than just listing your social media skills on your resume and the sites you’re familiar with, write in your cover letter about a certain project you spearheaded and the results you achieved. This will not only communicate that you have the right-fit skills, but also the proven track record to add value to a future employer.
Another way to showcase your computer skills is to create a “Computer Skills” section for them on your resume. Use a subhead and create a summary of your skills with bullet points for the relevant programs you know. You can also include them in your “Work History” section if a particular program was important for your current or a previous role.
For instance, you can state something such as:
“Used QuickBooks to manage business finances, process invoices and payments, and supervise all aspects of bookkeeping.”
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