27 Best Resume Tips That’ll Land You More Interviews

Your resume is a document that sells you as an employee. It’s almost like a marketing flyer, highlighting your skills, accomplishments, and competence. Writing a resume that positions you as worth hiring takes time. Fortunately, with a little help from AI, you’ll be able to create bullet points that help you better position yourself as the next great hire, faster. These days, there are tons of people looking for jobs. And with a competitive job landscape, it’s crucial that you create a resume that helps you stand out amongst other candidates. In this article, we’re going to share resume tips to help you land more interviews.

27 Best Resume Tips That’ll Land You More Interviews

1. Use AI resume builders to craft your resume

Recruiters are using AI to scan resumes. If you’re not landing interviews, it’s possible you’re just not getting your resume passed their tools. Using an AI resume builder has become a necessity to help you get your resume in the interview pile. That doesn’t mean you use AI for 100% of your resume. But mixing in some AI with compelling descriptions you’ve written yourself will allow you to stand out amongst job seekers. You can use a tool like Huntr’s AI resume builder, which allows you to use AI in your Professional Summary, Work Experience, Skills, and Projects. You’ll also be able to edit AI copy anyway you’d like to make it sound more like you or to fill in your own accomplishments.

2. Don’t hide skills in white font

While you want to pass AI and ATS filters for your resume, you don’t want to be secretive about it. Some people try to cheat the system by putting relevant resume skills in a white font, so that it passes filters but doesn’t show visibly on a resume. The downside to this is that recruiters don’t actually see the relevant keywords you add, which ends up getting your resume rejected anyways. You can fit in relevant keywords and skills onto your resume. The secret is to tailor your resume for the job you want so you only include relevant keywords for each company. So you’re not putting an entire thesaurus-worth of keywords onto your resume. Add relevant skills in a visible font, so hiring managers can see the match for themselves.

3. Make your links clickable

Make sure all your links on your resume are clickable, for easy access. For instance, you might add links to projects, a portfolio, an email address, personal brand website, or even social media links. If you plan on creating a video for your job application, consider using an AI video maker to create a unique video quickly. If you use a tool like Huntr, your resume PDF will have clickable links. However, if you use other tools, your links might not work. Adding links gives people access to a whole suite of information to learn about you or to simply contact you. You want to make this process as easy as possible for a recruiter so that you can give them all the information they need to make an informed decision about you. If your links aren’t clickable, they might pass your resume over, moving onto the next candidate’s application instead.

4. Only share the highlights

Some people will list ten bullet points for a single job they worked at. You don’t need to give that much detail when working on your resume. Your goal isn’t to list every single thing you’ve done at the company. Focus on the high impact stuff. You don’t need to list your high school unless you’re a new grad. Instead, you might choose to list your most relevant educational experience. Be intentional and focused about what you include on your resume. Share the highlights of what you’ve accomplished rather than every little detail. It’s not about whether or not you’ve done the right tasks, but whether or not you have what it takes to deliver results.

5. Tailor your resume

One of the resume tips to consider is tailoring your resume. You need to personalize every resume you create for every job you apply to. This can be time consuming on your own, but it’s a lot faster with an AI tool like Huntr. A resume tailor is crucial for ensuring you’re including the relevant experiences, keywords, and skills on your resume. Hiring managers scan resumes in seconds. When you tailor your resume to a job, there’ll be more overlap which convinces them to take a closer look. People who tailor their resume will likely receive an offer faster.

6. Remember that a human will read it

While you need to optimize your resume for ATS filters, the reality is a human will still read it. When looking at your resume, always ask yourself, "How will someone perceive this?" Is the design up to industry standards? Are you selling yourself well? Does your resume look crowded? Are the margins too thin? Take an honest look at your resume and try to make it look easy to read, visually attractive, and give you the credit you deserve. Your resume isn't about being humble but selling you as a great hire. If you've got what it takes, make sure a person reading it will look at your resume and say "heck yes" to wanting to interview you.

7. Mirror the language from the job description

While you don’t want to copy and paste the job description into your resume, you’ll still want to mirror some of the language from the job description. You’ll want to use the same acronyms, industry jargon, and so on in your resume. For instance, if they’re looking for a “rockstar” you might include that keyword in your resume summary when writing a short two sentences about why you’re worth hiring. If they’re looking for someone with specific skills, you’ll want to include those skills on your resume.

8. Add a pop of color

Most of the resumes a hiring manager will see will be black and white. And after a while all those black and white resumes end up fading together. A resume with a pop of color can help you stand out. Huntr has color-customizable resume templates you can choose from to add a subtle hint of color. It's not about having a heavy graphic or colored resume, just subtle colors to add some contrast and variety to make you stand out amongst other candidates.

9. Avoid design elements that aren’t readable

Believe it or not, but having design elements on your resume can still make your resume readable by ATS. Not all design elements are made equal though. If you’re using a tool like Huntr, your resume will be ATS-friendly, even when there are design elements. However, if you’re designing your own resume from scratch, you might want to consider testing out your designs through ATS scanners to ensure readability. Having a beautiful resume design can still be an effective way to stand out and you don’t need to necessarily compromise on design for functionality.

10. Use numbers for your biggest achievements

Having numbers and metrics on your resume can allow you to have a competitive advantage over other candidates. When top performers include real data on their resume, such as traffic numbers, conversion rates, revenue targets, number of products shipped, or some other numerical milestone, it helps hiring managers envision the type of hire you’ll be. On Huntr, the resume checker takes into consideration whether or not numbers and metrics are used on your resume to help calculate your score. After all, adding numbers on your resume can make your resume more attractive to recruiters.

11. Add your LinkedIn profile

Adding your LinkedIn profile to your resume will allow a hiring manager to learn more about what kind of content you post and share online. It'll also give them access to your entire work history. Plus, if you have recommendations, they'll read them there too. That said, you'll also want to do a clean up of your LinkedIn profile to make sure all the stuff on there is positive. You'll want to make sure your comments are uplifting. And that your work history sells you well. Plus, you'll want to ensure you share good content when posting online. You can use Huntr's LinkedIn resume builder to take your LinkedIn profile and turn it into a professionally designed resume in seconds. You'll still be able to edit and remove details with ease.

12. Remove dates from before 2014

Your resume should only have the most recent work experience and details. Any degrees or schooling from before 2014 should have the dates removed from it. You should also only list relevant roles you've held from 2014 onward. So if you've had three different jobs, you list those three work experiences. Anything from before this will likely not be relevant anymore. You want to focus on your most impactful and recent experiences where you drove your best results.

13. Fill in gaps with side hustles

With so many layoffs in recent years, having a gap on your resume is becoming more common. The longer you remain unemployed, the bigger the gap looks. If you start a side hustle, consulting business, or freelance project during the gap, it’ll be easier to fill in the gaps to make it look more attractive to employers. Unfortunately, there tends to be a bias in hiring as people often prefer to hire people who are currently employed. Inserting a side hustle in the gap shows your commitment to your growth but also gives you a chance to make your resume look more padded.

14. Organize the information

Another crucial resume tip is to keep the most interesting stuff about you at the top of your resume. The first bullet point should always be the most interesting and biggest accomplishment you have for every role listed on your resume. Your education is often seen as less important than your work experience so putting that near the bottom of your resume is best. Aim to make your resume summary an enticing introduction about yourself in only one to two sentences to really grab the hiring manager’s attention regarding what you can do for them. People will scan for keywords and accomplishments top-down, so make the top points as compelling as possible.

15. Tie your objective to the company mission and values

Your resume objective should explain what your main value as a candidate is. What do you specialize in that's unique to you to help you stand out? But you can also tie in a company's mission statement or values into your objective to help draw the connection between who you are, what you specialize in, and what your core values are. For example, you might write "Growth-minded engineer who specializes in building SaaS products for startups. Built products that generated over $10 million in revenue in one year." With this resume objective example, you're sharing your specialization, your value of a growth mindset, and what your key accomplishment is.

16. Use action verbs

You want to start each achievement bullet with an action verb. So, instead of writing “Responsible for content creation amassing over 30 million pageviews” you would write “Achieved over 30 million pageviews through content creation.” Sounds punchier, right? Action verbs help better showcase what you’ve done. Saying things like tasked with or responsible for is basically going to lead you to a bunch of tasks you did. However, when you focus on action verbs, you’ll probably be more focused on what you’ve accomplished. You’ll want to use different action verbs for every line to highlight a different accomplishment. Giving it a bit of variety also makes it more enjoyable to read from a recruiter’s perspective too.

17. Include hobbies, volunteer activities, certifications

If your work experience isn’t where you want it to be, you’ll want to include hobbies, volunteer activities, and some certifications to help position you as a great hire. Maybe you’re applying for your first job in a new industry (or ever) and you don’t have the work experience to land that first role. If you have a hobby in that space, you might include some of your accomplishments with it. If you have worked in a volunteer position in the field, you might include some achievements from it. Or if you’ve just completed a bootcamp to help you transition into the field, you could include some certifications as your credentials. Projects, side hustles, and more can be listed on your resume if you don’t have any employment experience in the space you want to dive into.

18. Focus on your results and impact

Every detail on your resume should focus on your results. You'll want to share all of your biggest examples of accomplishments on your resume. When a hiring manager sees your resume, they're asking themselves, will this person be successful in this role and at this company? If the answer is yes, you'll move through all the stages. When working on your resume, you need to show them your impact. What were the results of all the tasks you did? Using the STAR format will be the best way to sell yourself a serious candidate.

19. Make your contact information visible

You’ll want to include all of your contact information at the top of your resume. Gone are the days where you need an address on your resume. But a phone number and professional email address are key to ensuring that recruiters know how to contact you. Be wise and include an email address, such as your name. You don’t want an unprofessional, quirky, or strange email address to hinder your chances of getting an interview.

20. Remove age details

When it comes to your resume, age bias is real. A hiring manager shouldn't discriminate against a person for their age but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Especially once you start getting closer to retirement. If you're actively looking for a job and you're close to retirement age, look at your resume closely for anything that may age you. For example, your school graduation year, a yahoo or AOL email address, old and outdated skills or technology you have experience in that no one uses anymore, or even a picture of yourself on your resume. These are all things to remove to help ensure you get treated fairly as a candidate.

21. Proofread your resume

One of the most important resume tips is to proofread your resume. Typos, grammatical errors, inconsistencies in formatting can all land you in the reject pile. You can’t tell a hiring manager that you’re attentive to detail and miss these resume mistakes either. They’ll realize you’re not attentive to detail and will start to wonder what other false information is listed on your resume. You can run it through a grammar checker, have a friend look your resume over, or triple check your resume yourself to ensure that your resume (and document file name) are mistake-free.

22. Make your resume scannable

Your resume needs to be easy to scan. That means having the right amount of white space, using bullet points, and not having too much run-off text. You don't want your accomplishments to take up multiple lines. A single line per bullet point should suffice. Be as concise as possible when talking about your key accomplishments or listing off your skills. If you feel like explaining something write a cover letter instead.

23. Choose a standard font

When writing your resume, you’ll want to stick with common fonts. Arial, Playfair Display, Merriweather, Helvetica, or Calibri are all good and easy to read fonts. You’ll want to avoid cursive like Pacifico, Lobster, or the classic Comic Sans. Those fonts are harder to read, which takes more work for a hiring manager to glance at. If a recruiter spends a few seconds scanning your resume, you're better off choosing a font that’s easy to read so they can get as much information about you as possible when doing their first look over.

24. Get feedback from a friend

If you use AI, self edit, and get a bit of feedback from a friend, you’ll be well on your way to landing your dream job. Having a second set of eyes to look at your resume will help ensure you’re selling yourself well. This is particularly helpful if you find you’re not landing as many interviews as you’d like. They might give you feedback based on what you’ve told them you’ve done at work to help you better position yourself. If finding a friend to help you with your resume is hard, you can use AI suggestions on Huntr to help you better craft your experiences, following some recommended accomplishments based on your job title.

25. Choose a template based on your experience

If a resume template has content that’s more horizontally based, the standard and original template, it’s typically best suited for people with a ton of work experience who have a lot of content to add to their resume. If you’re a new grad or have limited work experience, you might choose a design that has a left or right-hand side bar to better pad out your resume without making it look empty. There are six, professionally-designed, and color-customizable resume templates you can choose from on Huntr.

26. Update your resume quarterly

Your LinkedIn profile and your resume should be updated every quarter. You're always achieving new accomplishments at work. And let's face it, unless you start writing them down and tracking them frequently, you're going to forget most of them when you need it most. Updating your resume every quarter makes it easier to stay fresh with job details and puts less burden on you in the event of a layoff or a necessary job change.

27. Get your resume graded

A resume checker can help you determine your resume score to help align your resume to industry standards or the needs of a potential employer. You can get a grade on the content of your resume to help ensure you’ve designed a resume that follows the correct format. Plus, if you’re tailoring your resume to a job, you can get a score on how well aligned your resume is to a job posting, so you can craft a more targeted resume.

Time to build your resume

Now that you’ve learned all the necessary resume tips you need to know, it’s time to build your resume. You can use Huntr’s AI resume builder to design a resume. You can use AI as much or as little as you’d need to help you along the way to help you better tell your employment story. To build your resume, sign up for Huntr today!