by Tracy Lynn Smith

Created on: July 11, 2010   Last Updated: January 05, 2011

The first step to getting a job is getting into an interview. A resume is the one shot before the interview to be unique, professional, and stick out from all the applicants. Jobs may receive hundreds of applicants. A resume will need to have something that makes the resume stick out from other resumes. Here are ways to help make a resume stand out from the rest.

Keywords

Many employers are now taking applications and resumes online. Therefore an online resume needs stand out by its looks and keywords. Employers will search for certain words, which are keywords, to find potential employees. If the resume is geared going after a management position in retail some keywords would be management, customer service, inventory, and sales.

Keywords can also be changed to tailor your resume towards different jobs. Many online sites like Yahoo, Career Builders, and Monster will allow job hunters to have more then one resume saved online. This is perfect for resume to be more tailored to the job the applicant is applying for. Plus it makes more resumes with different keywords that are possible to be searched for by employers.

Visual Effect

The overall look for a resume is very important as well. Employers are going to want neat, organized, and correctly spelled resumes. While most paper resumes will not have much color due to the cost of printing, online resumes can be colorful. Be careful not to make the resume too busy, but a little piazza of color can really help to show off the resume.

While color is great for an online resume, printing in color for paper or off line resumes can be very costly. It is best to keep printed resume in mostly black and white. By just adding a line or the applicants name in color will be the perfect mixture to set the paper off from the rest without costing lots of money in printing fees.

Length

The length of the resume is very important as well. It used to be that a resume should only be a page long, but the resume can now be around two pages. Employers usually want information about the last ten years of employment.

If the applicants has done temporary jobs, moved around, or just have not stayed at one job for too long they may need more then one sheet of paper to list all the employment. Instead try to list the last three to four jobs and place a summary of other skills under skills or other qualifications.

Relevant Information

Hobbies can be helpful to fill space on a resume and showoff skills that related to the job. Only list things

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