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Whether you’re starting out or progressing in an already established career, having a stellar resume that stands out from the crowd is essential when applying for a new job.

This is because your resume is the first thing a recruiter or hiring manager will see and while they’ll primarily use it to gauge your education, skills and experience and filter applicants accordingly, it’s also your opportunity to create a great first impression before you’re even called for an interview.

According to data compiled by online resume builder Zety, on average you need to send between 30 and 50 resumes to get hired, and only 10% of job applications result in interview invites.

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Bespoke is best

On the surface, your resume should be all about you, but if you really want to highlight how suitable you are, use the job description of the position you’re applying for as your blueprint to create a bespoke resume tailored to the job. It’s more time-consuming but it’s a great way to adapt and map your information to specify how your skills and experience can benefit the company.

Get creative

Instead of submitting a simple Times New Roman doc, think of how you can create a resume that visually appeals through creative use of font, colour, design and images, especially if you’re applying for a role in a creative field or industry. There are lots of free templates available online that can help you do this, but keep in mind that you don’t want the design to detract from your information, so keep the design streamlined.

Highlight what you’ve accomplished

The easiest way to highlight your accomplishments and really show off how much of an asset you can be, is to be specific. For example, instead of saying, “increased sales” or “consistently exceeded targets”, quantify your achievements with data. “Increased sales by 75%” or “exceeded target by 40%” shows exactly what you are capable of.

Keep it brief

You might worry that leaving information out of your resume might hurt your chances, but editing your information down to two pages is essential. In data compiled by project management software app TeamStage, the average resume is 489 words and the average time spent reading a resume is just six to seven seconds.

This especially applies to work experience: it’s best to look at ways past jobs apply to the role you’re applying for and only list relevant details and accomplishments that will resonate, rather than giving an extensive backstory. And don’t forget to proofread your resume before sending it anywhere—typos and poor grammar are an immediate red flag.

Add a summary

Even if you follow our advice and keep it brief, adding a short summary at the start of your resume is a great way to help the person sifting through dozens of applications narrow down their shortlist along the way. No longer than three sentences, your summary should include details about skills (particularly soft skills like time management and teamwork), your career goals and what you can bring to the role.

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Ready to put your new and improved resume to the test? Check out the Study International Job Board today or check out these three roles currently hiring.

2023 Intern – Business Process Analyst, Adobe, San Jose

Adobe is on a mission to hire the best and this summer is recruiting a 2023 Intern – Business Process Analyst to work directly with the office of the CIO. This opportunity includes re-designing, and operationalizing vendor management and software asset management processes. As part of your duties you’ll analyze, design and lead end-to-end software lifecycle management process improvements, and develop a point of view on what can be improved to drive process adoption. You will have an opportunity to share your vision, ideas and influence the future of the team. See the full job spec here.

Web Developer Intern – Winter 2023 Internship, ConveyThis, New York

Founded in 2018, ConveyThis is a SaaS tech start-up that turns any website into a multilingual one. It is currently seeking a Web Developer Intern – Winter 2023 Internship to be responsible for the coding, innovative design and layout of its website, integrate data from various back-end services and databases and gather and refine specifications and requirements based on technical needs. Requirements include a BS in computer science or a related field, knowledge of SEO processes, a GPA of 3.5 or above and one year of experience in front-end development, CSS and PHP. Apply now.

C++ Engineer Intern (Summer 2023), Electronic Arts, Vancouver

Electronic Arts (EA) is looking for a high performing student to join its world-class internship programme. The C++ Engineer Intern (Summer 2023) will join the customer experience innovation labs team and be responsible for learning new technologies and coming up with proof-of-concept demonstrations. You’ll need to have a firm grasp of programming concepts and be comfortable with multiple languages (and learning new ones as necessary), be intellectually curious, a critical thinker, a self-starter and have experience with backend development languages like Java, Python, Javascript, React, Swift and NodeJS. Find out more here.

For more internship opportunities and full time roles, visit the Study International Job Board