Why is a resume important?

A resume is one of the most important documents you’ll ever have to create, especially if you hope to find your dream job. During a job search, it’s customary for a company to ask for people to apply to their job listing with a resume that details their work history, education, skills, and contact information. This post will explore why having a resume is important.

Why is a resume important: 19 Reasons

1. It showcases your qualifications for a job

A resume is important because it showcases all of your qualifications for a job. Your resume should include all the key details that make you qualified for a job. This might include relevant work experience with interesting accomplishments, certifications, educational background, and key resume skills. Overall, your resume will point out all the ways you’re capable of doing a job. It's proof that not only can you do the job, but you’ve done it before (and well). That’s why sharing metrics and data can help elevate your resume better, so you improve your chances of landing that coveted interview. When writing a resume, put all of your focus on showcasing as many qualifications as possible that center around the role you’re applying for. You can tailor your resume for a job to better align that match.

2. It’s the gateway to getting an interview

To land an interview at a company, they first need to know you exist. Applying with a resume is the industry standard in the job search process so to get an interview, you’ll often need to create a resume that impresses a hiring manager enough to help you make your way into the company. To land an interview, your resume will need to showcase all the ways you’re a good match for this specific job. You’ll want to tailor your resume to include experiences they’re looking for, add relevant keywords that are in the job description, and include any relevant certifications or educational degrees. A resume is important because it details all that information that’s needed to know whether or not someone should interview you for the role they’re hiring for.

3. It captures a hiring manager’s attention

A resume is important because it’s a document that can be used to help capture a hiring manager’s attention. You’re looking for a job in a specific field, and they’re looking to hire someone in that field. Your resume is almost like marketing material for your work experience. How you package yourself on that document can determine whether or not someone sends you an email immediately or doesn’t give you a second glance. Of course, you don’t want a resume that’s loud and distracting in its design. It needs to be professional, polished, typo and grammar free, and highlight your biggest accomplishments. Think like a marketer when writing and designing your resume and ask yourself, “Is this truly selling how great an employee I can be for this company?” Simply put, keep it brief yet appealing. There is no need to be fluffy while writing various sections of your resume. For instance, inserting lengthy text blocks in your resume’s summary is unnecessary. Only focus on highlights that can capture the hiring manager's attention and present them in the best way possible. If you find it tricky, use a robust AI summarizer to keep it brief and appealing.

4. It shows your career progression

A hiring manager will use a resume to see how someone has progressed and grown in their career. Have you had impressive resume accomplishments that grow bigger with every job you work at? Seeing this progression and growth might make you a perfect candidate that they want to hire. Showing that you're advancing in your career in resume format can help improve your career and job prospects.

5. It markets your strengths

A resume is important because it’s the kind of document that markets your strengths. When writing a resume, the goal is to convince someone you’re a great hire. You do this by sharing data and metrics of your biggest accomplishments to help you land your role. It can be hard to brag about yourself, but don’t be shy to share some of the best wins you’ve had in previous roles. What makes you a unique and exceptional hire for this company? Zero in on it on your resume. Add the skills and experience that make you a great hire for this company. Showcase how you’re not just great at your craft, you’re world class.

6. It allows you to own your career story

Throughout your career there'll be ups and downs. You might get laid off from a job, need to take a leave of absence, or have some other employment gap that needs some explanation. Your resume is a document where you can own your career story and present the best aspects of what you've done in your career. It's not someone else's third-party opinion of who you are, but your own story in detail about what you're like as an employee.

7. It proves that you can legally do the job

While most jobs require you to have some work experience to be able to land a role, in some cases not being certified or educated in an industry will limit your ability to get hired. A resume, particularly the education and certifications section can showcase that you’re legally able to do the job. For example, engineers need degrees to be able to work in certain roles after graduation. A medical doctor without a medical degree in that country can’t actually legally have patients. Listing your certifications and degrees can show hiring managers that legally you can do the job they’re hiring for. This weeds out anyone who doesn’t actually have the degree to work in the industry.

8. It matches your skills to a job

A resume is important because it can match your skills to a job. You can use a resume tailor like Huntr to highlight the keywords on a job listing. Then, you can add these keywords to your resume in only a couple of clicks. You can use a resume to match your skills to a job. This not only helps you pass ATS filters, but also helps draw the connection between you and a job so you’ll increase your chances of getting hired. A resume will include skills in a skills section, throughout your work history, and even in your education if you work in the same field as you went to school for. The skills you possess will help you land a relevant job that requires those skills.

9. It's a personal branding asset

Many people build their personal brand around their careers. You might speak at conferences, post content on social media, or something else entirely. What makes a resume important is that it's an asset in your personal branding. Are you a go-getter? Your resume will showcase your growth and accomplishments getting bigger with time if that's the case. Are you a high performer? Your results will speak for themselves. Overall, the way you position yourself on your resume will showcase what kind of hire you are. If you have tons of education, it might show you have a growth mindset, for example. Those little details all matter.

10. It shows recruiters what’s possible by hiring you

When a recruiter scans a resume, they only spend a few seconds looking at it. However, if you’ve got exceptional experience, you can leave a hiring manager or recruiter in awe of you. Companies have big goals. And many of them provide employees with equity so they own a share of the company. As a result, a hiring manager or recruiter is personally incentivized to hire the absolute best candidate. When you’ve got a great resume and that unique experience they’re looking for, you can help recruiters imagine what’s possible by hiring you. Whether you’ve done something that they want you to do again at this company or you have a track record of greatness, you can inspire someone to dream bigger when you’ve sold yourself well on your resume.

11. It provides critical information

Your resume is important because it provides critical information. For example, your resume not only includes your qualifications for a job but it also shares your contact information. Without your contact information, hiring managers can’t find you to reach out to you about the next steps in the process. Without applying to a job, a hiring manager might not even realize you exist. They might be looking for someone like you who can do the exact job they’re looking to hire for. Your resume and job application provides all those key details from how to get in touch with you to why they should hire you, so they can end that recruiting search for this specific role.

12. It can be easily tailored and customized

Your chances of being interviewed for a job increase when you tailor your resume. Huntr's resume tailor is a great tool for being able to find out which keywords and skills to add to your resume using the job posting you applied for. Your resume is important because you can customize it and personalize it for a job to truly showcase the best of you. Since it's customizable, you can use it for many purposes and roles within the job search, making it the best and most important document you'll ever create that could lead to financial rewards.

13. It adds a barrier for unqualified applicants

In the job search, a resume is important because not only does it help people get jobs but it also deters the wrong people from getting hired. A hiring manager needs to get resumes to know who’s looking for a job right now that’s qualified for the role. A person without the right resume won’t get the job, allowing the hiring manager to hire the right candidate so their company can flourish. A resume helps match people with the right jobs. Having a barrier for unqualified applicants helps them too. It prevents them from being in a wrong that isn’t a good fit for them so they can succeed when they find their own good match.

14. It’s the first impression someone will have of you

A resume is important because it’s someone’s first impression of you. How you present yourself on paper will dictate whether or not someone will want to meet you in person. If your resume is packed with grammatical errors or typos, a recruiter will overlook your resume and judge you for your lack of attention to detail. Writing that you’re fluent in Spanish and having a grammatical incorrect Spanish sentence will showcase that you’re lying on a resume. When it comes to your resume, you’ll want to overlook it multiple times to catch inconsistencies. You’ll also want to craft a resume that highlights your best qualities and attributes. This is going to be the first impression someone will have of you so you want to ensure it’s a positive reflection of who you are and what you can do for the company.

15. It showcases your work ethic

Most people will say they’re a hard worker. A resume will showcase if you really are. Your resume accomplishments will showcase what your work ethic is like. If you’ve got big results, you’ve probably worked hard, learned a lot, and developed skills to an advanced level. If your resume accomplishments are listed in the form of duties instead of accomplishments, then it’s likely that you haven’t had any big wins in your role, which might look underwhelming to a recruiter. If you list how much output you’ve done and the results of that output it’ll look more impressive to a hiring manager. For example, your resume might say “Wrote over 100 pieces of content which generated 10 million views.” This shows that you’ve done a ton of work and had an impressive accomplishment to go alongside with it.

16. It helps you with surprise opportunities

Having a resume that's constantly being updated will help you when surprise opportunities make their way to your inbox. You shouldn't only create a resume when looking for a job. You should also have one ready to go for when hiring managers reach out about new opportunities that you could be a great fit for. A resume is important, especially if you've got one ready to go because it can lead you down a fun adventure or help you advance in your career.

17. It highlights your unique value

A resume is important because it shows your unique value. Everyone specializes in a specific niche. What’s yours? When looking for a job, you want to tailor your experience to the job. For example, you could say you’re a marketer but that’s so vague that people it doesn’t stand out. However, if you mention on your resume you’re a startup marketer helping small businesses evolve into household names, you’ve got a clearly well-defined niche that makes you a more compelling hire for someone looking for just that. You could list your unique value in your resume summary to help carve out your specific niche and value, so you can better attract the right company to you.

18. It shares your core career goal

The importance of a resume helps you achieve your main career goal. In your resume summary, you can include your main goal in your career that you’re looking to work towards. For example, if you’re looking to grow professionally, you might say, “Results-driven sales professional with a proven track record of generating over $5 million in annual sales looking to grow into a sales leadership role.” That way, you showcase that you’re looking to transition from being a sales representative into a leader. It shows what you hope to achieve. If a company is looking to hire someone who will lead a team or is known to help elevate their talent and develop them professionally, they’ll be more likely to take you on. When getting rejected, it’s actually a good thing because those companies wouldn’t have invested in what you wanted. The company that says yes to you is open to the idea of helping you grow and that can be such a beautiful experience.

19. It’s a good way to promote your portfolio

Your resume is important because it can actually help you promote your portfolio if you have one. You can include links on your resume and a portfolio link is a good one to promote. Certain careers like writers, graphic designers, developers, and so on have a ton of work experience that they can show off. A portfolio can showcase your talent so that someone hires you quickly for what you excel at. Creatives have distinct styles which can easily compel someone to want to hire someone with a unique way of doing something. The more people who see your portfolio the more likely you’ll find work.

Time to build a resume

Now that you know why having a resume is important, it’s time to get working on one. You can use Huntr’s AI resume builder to craft a compelling resume with AI suggestions to make your resume even better. The tool comes with a resume checker which grades your resume so you can get immediate feedback on how to improve your resume on your own without needing to get anyone to take a second look at it. To start building your resume, sign-up for Huntr today!