Make Your Resume Stand Out from the Pile

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Looking for a new opportunity? Then you’ll be asking yourself that age-old question: “How can I make sure my resume is on the top of that pile?” Well, ask yourself no more! We asked IBMers to share their best advice on how you can make your resume stand out and land a job at IBM.

1. Highlight your greatest hits.

“Standing out is all about what you have done differently and how you added value. One mistake a lot of people make is to highlight job descriptions on their resume. Anybody can be given that same job description, but no two people will have the same outcome. So the best way to stand out and be noticed by IBM is to emphasize the ways you added value. Show how your contributions made a difference, and be sure to mention how all this helped you and your team achieve a goal.”
~Brorhie Muoboghare, Global Learning Experience Lead

“Projects, research, anything you’ve done – make sure you take credit for it all so we can realize your best work!”
~Marc Velasco, Senior Software Engineer

2. Be brief and straight to the point.

“Treat your resume like the cover of a magazine/newspaper. Ask yourself: What are the big headlines? What is the impact of what you’ve done in the past? Why should you be invited in for an interview?”
~Lisa Chen, Lead Design Strategist

“Keep it high level. Pretend the CEO is reading it. Write out all of the tactical things you think are important and then group those things into larger themes. Less really is more.”
~Rachael Morin, Communications Lead

“Do not write every detail in your resume, so you still have something to say and elaborate during the interview.”
~Shela Buena, Talent Acquisition Coordinator

3. Choose your words wisely.

“I also think it helps to look at the company’s website and see if you can use similar jargon to what the company uses. It subconsciously gets them to view you as a great culture fit.”
~Rachael Morin, Communications Lead

“Look for the keywords in the job description and find a way to integrate those keywords into your resume.”
~Kelsey Weissgold, Lead Performance Engineer for Global Early Professional Hiring

4. Keep it real.

“Keep it AUTHENTIC. Share a glimpse of who you are. If you struggled in the past, show how that built a skill. For example, if you managed two jobs while studying full-time, share something about how that taught you determination and time-management when achieving goals.”
~Rawan AlAghbar, Technical Solution Specialist

“Your resume or LinkedIn profile should answer the question, ‘Why you?’ Why should we hire you and why should we consider you? It should be brief, but comprehensive enough to showcase you. If I’m reading it and my question is, ‘Why you?’ it should answer right back with, ‘Why not?'”
~Mei Baniqued, Solutions and Transition Management Leader

 

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