That’s why employers pay special attention to your skills to find a professional who is just right for the position.

What skills should I include on my resume?

When deciding what to include in the key skills section, focus primarily on the requirements of the job you’re looking for. Carefully review the position description and write out the skills the employer expects from you. If you realize you have the right skills, be sure to list them! For example, an accountant may be required to be proficient in MS Excel and 1C, a programmer may be required to know PHP and Python at Junior level, and an internet marketer may be required to have experience with Google Ads and English at C1 level. However, don’t limit yourself to the skills listed in the job posting. Think about your strengths and experience that could be useful for the position. Make an accurate list and choose only those skills that best match the requirements of the position in the specific industry. Why it’s necessary. First, employers may prescribe a minimum set of skills required for a position to screen out inexperienced candidates.

If they don’t use such screening methods, then by specifying additional professional skills, you can show that you are versatile and can fulfill more than what is expected of you. This will greatly increase your chances of success.

Expert Tip

It’s best to tailor your resume to each individual job you apply for. Therefore, it is important to adjust the key skills section for each position. This way, you will meet the employer’s expectations as much as possible and stand out among candidates who use generic resumes. But under no circumstances should you lie!

Key skills on a resume: Soft skills and Hard skills

You’ve probably heard these terms before. They refer to the figurative division of skills into strictly professional and personal skills. Let’s take a closer look at them.

Soft skills

Usually it is the ability to resolve conflicts, maintain a comfortable atmosphere in the team, cope with difficulties, criticize on the case, concisely express their thoughts, have leadership skills, as well as time management. Of course, “soft skills” include much more than the above examples, but their main purpose is to ensure effective and productive work with other people (whether they are subordinates, business partners, or departmental colleagues). There are some professions where having these skills is a must: teachers, support staff, doctors, and any other job that involves regular interaction with people. But even if the job doesn’t involve constant customer contact, these skills are valued in all industries. They are versatile and contribute to the effective performance of not only the individual employee, but the company as a whole.

What good is extensive experience and outstanding technical skills if an employee is an abuser, terrorizing colleagues and not able to listen to the opinion of his superiors? You won’t get far with such a person. Having “soft skills” is key to ensuring that employees can maximize their technical and professional skills, benefiting both themselves and the company.

Hard skills

“Hard skills” are the technical knowledge and skills required to perform well-defined professional tasks. These skills are easily measurable and can be put to the test, making them an important part of any resume. They include skills such as proficiency in programming languages, knowledge of foreign languages at a certain level, basic accounting, and working with specialized equipment or software. It is technical skills that are most often listed as mandatory in job descriptions, as they are needed to perform specific tasks in the workplace.

These technical skills enable an employee to perform clear, understandable and measurable tasks, achieving specific results. These skills, although not universal, make each candidate unique in the eyes of the employer, emphasizing his or her professional competencies and ability to solve the company’s specific tasks.

The post Why do I need a Key Skills Section? appeared first on GenCV Online.

Why is this necessary?

First of all, the more recruiters are looking not even by job title or not only by job title, but make additional requests for specific parameters they need.

Secondly, all job sites now use artificial intelligence in the candidate search engine. And he is more willing to show the employer those resumes where there are more words that match the words from the vacancy.

In – third will be a reason to remember what else you can write about in the resume.

In general, how to use it: take keywords and actively use in the text of the resume, based on your experience. And you will be happy.

Common for all HR: HR – projects, assessment, adaptation, training, talent pool, HR – brand, internal communications, corporate culture, HR – bot, consulting.

Recruitment: Executive Search, IT recruitment, direct search, mass recruitment, search in social networks, search for top managers/executives, recruitment automation, recruitment agency, competency-based interviews, vacancies, resumes, interviews, digital, hiring, cold search, Linkedin, job profile, candidate database, sourcing, labor market research, working with candidate databases, candidate screening, internships, working with students, HiPo, labor market monitoring, job profile, outplacement.

As you can see, different verbs can be used with the same word to reflect your actual experience or level of proficiency in a particular skill. We can’t know in advance what really happens “on the other side of the barricades” and what level of specialist the recruiter is looking for for this or that request. But your chances of getting into his selection of candidates for more detailed consideration immediately grow, and whether your experience is suitable or not under the request, he will find out when studying your resume in more detail.

Keywords can be in any part of the resume: in the title of the position, duties, skills, in the column “about yourself”, education. Also, depending on the structure of the company, you may have experience in different areas and use keywords from different blocks in your resume.

Similar lists can be made as well for other positions, and the same keywords in the resume can be used by professionals with completely different experience, skills and experience. The question is how this experience will be reflected. Some will be implementing and developing a corporate portal, while others will be administering and preparing content for a corporate portal.

Have fun with your resume and enjoy your job search!

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

The post “Keys” in a Resume for HR appeared first on GenCV Online.

No water

Describe your work experience in your resume as specifically but concisely as possible. Give each new company a separate line with the period of work, the name of the organization, its brief description, your position, responsibilities and achievements.

If you have been promoted during the course of your employment with any company, you have 2 ways:

1. put only the most recent job title and its corresponding responsibilities and accomplishments on your resume;
2. enter a new field, duplicating the name of the organization and its description.

Period of employment

Indicate the period of employment to the nearest month: this will allow the hiring manager to quickly understand how long you have worked in a particular position.

Company name

Write the name of the organization in full – do not rely on the fact that its abbreviated name is familiar to everyone. Write about the location (specify the city, in some cases – the country), sphere of activity, number of personnel, etc.

Job title

The position should be clearly indicated – “sales manager”, “chief accountant”, “dental nurse”. From the name of the position should be clear, what exactly you were doing in previous jobs, too general formulations (for example: “specialist”, “manager”, “employee”) will prevent the recruiter to find your resume.

Description of responsibilities

Too detailed description of the functional weighs down the resume, so we will describe the duties based on the purpose. To do this, let’s carefully read the vacancy you are interested in and think: what exactly from your previous experience is especially important to get the desired position? If you are applying for a managerial position, pay special attention to your organizational experience and results achieved. For a chief accountant, it’s important to talk about successfully completed audits on your resume, etc.

“Payroll in 1C”; ‘Experience in BI-systems’ – if in your work you used special tools, technologies, software, be sure to name them.

Special attention should be paid to specific achievements in previous jobs. Let’s name figures, real results: “The growth of the company’s sales level by 40% in 2022”; ‘The output of the online store in the top 10 search results’. Avoid phrases like “extensive experience”; “increased efficiency of the department”; “established contacts with the media”, etc.

Professional skills

Companies-employers have the opportunity to find in the database of resumes by professional skills. Our system selects resumes of applicants whose skills match a certain vacancy and sends them to employers. That’s why we take special care when filling in this field of the resume.

The best way to do this is to use our skills library: start filling it in and the system will offer you suitable options in a drop-down list. If you have special competencies that are not on our list, add them yourself.

Down with abbreviations and inaccuracies

Avoid abbreviations and inaccuracies. The name of the educational institution, place of work, list of duties, achievements – all this is written in detail.

Good luck with your resume and job search!

The post How to Describe Work Experience on a Resume appeared first on GenCV Online.

What are the typical mistakes job seekers make in their resumes?

The response is the first contact with the future employer. Make it as simple as possible, answer exactly the questions asked in the resume.

1. Too much information

In this case, remember that a resume is not an autobiography, and there is no need to give as much detail as possible about every position you have worked in.

A professional who is looking for a job needs to align the resume with the vacancy / desired position. To do this, you should mentally answer the following questions and adjust the information based on them:

• What knowledge, skills, abilities, skills does the employer want to see in the job seeker?
• What skills he considers the most important, key, and which can be considered secondary?
• What points in work experience are key for the employer (general experience, work with certain tasks/technologies, experience in large companies/in international markets, etc.).

If there are points where the employer’s requirements and your skills match, write about it in your cover letter and be sure to reflect them in your resume.

2. Too little or no information

Many job seekers believe that brevity is the sister of talent. But don’t forget about the key skills you have to offer a potential employer.

Demonstrate your key competencies. Think about what knowledge, skills, and accomplishments are appropriate for a particular job opening.

For example, if you want to get a job as a website promotion specialist, it makes sense to mention taking courses in SEO and bringing the company’s website to the top positions in a search query.

3. grammatical errors

A recruiter looks at hundreds of resumes in a day. Errors in writing can be different – the employer will easily understand the presence of a typo in the resume. But if a specialist makes mistakes in professional terms, the chances of getting a job are significantly reduced.

We advise you to double-check the spelling of words. This can be done with the help of online services. Also try to avoid complex sentences with excessive use of participial and de-partial turns. It is better to write simple short sentences that are easier to understand.

4. Presence of negative information

Include only positive information about you and your activities in your resume. Do not criticize past employers, do not focus on difficulties and disappointments (except for situations where you were able to overcome difficulties and gain recognition).

5. Inappropriate photo or lack thereof

Remember that it is important for the employer to have an idea of who is coming to the interview. Try to avoid formal photos like a passport photo or selfies from a coffee shop. We advise choosing a shot in a neutral setting where you are relaxed and happy. Also provide true information about yourself (full name, age, city).

The post The Top 5 Resume Mistakes to Avoid appeared first on GenCV Online.

Start with a strong profile

Employers spend an average of 6-10 seconds on the first read of a resume. So the topmost block, the profile or personal information, should instantly pique interest. Here you should tell about yourself in a few sentences, emphasizing your key qualities, relevant experience and perhaps a special motivation. Feel free to be concise and confident. For example, “Experienced sales manager with five years of experience in e-commerce, specializing in increasing sales through building long-term customer relationships.” Sounds solid already, right?

Avoid generic phrases like “responsible” or “proactive” – these qualities are implied but rarely emphasized. It’s better to focus on specific accomplishments and experience. Emphasize that you are unique and know what it takes to get the job done.

Structure the text

The resume should be clear and structured, like an instruction manual for assembling furniture. Use basic blocks: contact information, work experience, education, skills, accomplishments. The employer should not search for the necessary information throughout the text. Everything should be clear at a glance.

Each block is specific data without “water”. For example, in the section “Work experience” do not just write the name of the company and position, but describe what you were responsible for and what you have achieved. A good example: “Product Manager, ABC Corp. – developed a go-to-market strategy for the product, increasing conversion rates by 25% in six months.”

A bulleted list can make text easy to read quickly. For example:

• Developed and implemented a digital marketing strategy, increasing website traffic by 30%.
• Organized training for the team, increasing efficiency by 20%.
• Worked with clients, resolving their queries 20% faster than average.

A bulleted list structures the text and draws attention to key points, helping to make the resume visually pleasing.

Describe accomplishments, not just responsibilities

It’s important to not just list what you were responsible for, but to show results. The goal of a resume is not only to make it clear that you skillfully performed the duties, but that you made a real contribution to the company. Instead of the boring “was responsible for sales”, you can write “increased sales by 15% in the first quarter of 2023 by developing personalized offers”.

Specific numbers and percentages are what will set you apart from other candidates. If you don’t have numbers, try focusing on qualitative results. For example: “Optimized department workflows, which reduced time on task and increased productivity.”

Make sure the skills match the position

Skills is the one section that often gets wasted when it lists too much or too little. First of all, read the job description and make sure your skills match the requirements. You don’t want to write about all of them if they have nothing to do with your job.

If you’re applying for a data analyst position, your “public speaking” or “social media” skills won’t help much. But Excel, Python, and the ability to work with large data sets are important. Pick three or four skills that are maximally relevant and emphasize them.

Emphasize visual appeal

Visual structure also plays a big role in the perception of a resume. Avoid text overload and strange fonts – employers prefer simplicity and brevity. It’s best if the text is in a standard font like Arial or Calibri, using bullet points and subheadings.

Add some air – leave margins and line spacing. Such a document is easier to read and easier to find the right points. If you want to stand out, use infographics or colored elements for sections, but without excess – everything should be strict and neat.

Don’t forget about the cover letter

A resume is all about dry facts, but a cover letter is an opportunity to show your more human side. In it, you can describe why you’re interested in this particular position and how you see yourself in the company. For example: “I have always enjoyed working with clients and achieving goals, especially when I see how our joint project brings concrete results. That’s why I was attracted to your position, because I believe I can bring a new perspective and possibly fresh ideas to the team.”

A cover letter can help you build rapport with the employer before the interview and show your interest and professional approach.

The post How to Write a Resume That Will Get Attention appeared first on GenCV Online.