We may now be living in a world of technological advancement but the importance of résumé writing has not diminished over the course of time. It still remains the single most important and potent weapon in your arsenal in your quest to land that dream job. Take a close look at your résumé: Is it professional enough? Does it scream out ‘Interview me’? Below, we look at 10 of the best résumé writing tips that will ensure your résumé is a cut above the rest and spared the usual fate of being cast into the rubbish bin.

1 – What Is Your Purpose?: That’s easy, to get a job, right? Wrong! People who think like this write boring résumés that makes them look desperate. The purpose of the résumé is to get an interview.
2 – Use The Right Keywords: With the advent of the Internet, digital databases are being used by companies to find the best candidates. You need to create an electronic résumé with keywords related to the job you are applying for. Take a look at the job description for clues on the best keywords to use.
3 – Effective Titles: With most companies receiving dozens if not hundreds of résumés per job opening, you have about 5 seconds to impress. When listing past work experience, use descriptive titles. Instead of ‘Accounting’, use ‘Management of bookkeeping’ for example.
4 – Erase Erroneous Information: Writing ‘available for interview’ or ‘references available at request’ simply wastes space that can be better utilized with descriptions of your experience and skills.
5 – Quantify Your Achievements: Instead of stating your roles in previous companies, provide tangible information on how you aided your company. If you saved money or improved efficiency, say so and if possible, enter an exact figure.
6 – Be Positive: Avoid all negative comments in your résumé. The company you are looking to be employed with doesn’t need to know that you hated your colleagues or manager in your previous job!
7 – Leave Out Your Age: Although discrimination due to age is illegal, you have no way of knowing if you were turned down because of your age. The company doesn’t need to know your age so don’t tell them.
8 – Handle The Truth: Even the smallest lies have a habit of being uncovered and will make you seem untrustworthy. This also includes embellishments. If you can’t remember the exact amount of money you saved a previous employer for example, just give a general figure instead of making one up.
9 – List All Positions: This is especially relevant for those who have worked with the same company for many years. Showing your different roles in one job displays your versatility and may also show that you have earned promotions. Simply mentioning that you have worked for the same company for 15 years makes you appear to be an unambitious individual who has been stuck in the same role, even if this isn’t actually true!
10 – Avoid Pronouns: This means no mentions of ‘I’ or ‘me’. A résumé is about you in the first place so use of such pronouns is completely unnecessary.

Craft an advanced résumé that paints the best possible picture of you and rise above the masses of other applicants to earn an interview. Once you get this far, you know that the company is interested in your services and proves that your résumé writing skills have improved exponentially.

Bonus tip: Have others rate your resume to get valuable feedback at RateMyResume.net