You will have certainly been told many times that your resume is one of the most important parts of any job application. All recruiters and potential employers will expect to see one alongside a cover letter whenever you apply for a job.

But you shouldn’t just submit any old resume – it is important that you take the time to carefully prepare your resume so that it pops out from all the others that the recruiters will have to sift through.

Wondering how you can improve yours? You just need to pimp it using the following tips.

Tailor It To The Job Description

Each job that you apply for will have its very own set of skills and knowledge that is required from each applicant. In each application, you need to make sure that you highlight all your own skills and knowledge that matches up to those listed in the job description.

If you send the same resume for each and every job that you apply for, you might not be hitting the right notes.

So it is important that you write a resume for each application, ensuring that each one highlights your skills and experience that are relevant to the job in question.

Add As Much Education As Possible

Recruiters and employers will be looking for smart and intelligent applicants who will bring great knowledge to the job role, so it is important that you have everything the want by mentioning all of your education on your resume.

Don’t just leave off a qualification because you got it a long time ago – it may be exactly what they want to see in an applicant, so be sure to add it! It could even be worth taking a few extra courses so that you have as much education as possible on your resume.

You can find out what courses are on close to you by checking the department of labour learnerships website.

Remember Work Experience

As well as education, you also need to mention as much work experience as possible on your resume. This can be a weekend job that you had during college, or a week spent on your school’s work experience program. Even if you only spent a few days interning at a company, it is still important to mention it. After all, every little piece of experience counts!

Don’t Forget About Formatting

Don’t forget that it isn’t just about what goes into your resume – how it looks is equally important! Make sure that it is very clear and easy to read. Ideally, your resume should be condensed so that it is no longer than two sides of A4. Using bullet points is often preferred as well. That’s because recruiters will be scan reading it, so you need to make sure that all the info pops out as they scan it. And bullet points are the perfect format for this!

Make sure your resume doesn’t end up in the slush pile and heed these extremely useful tips!

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.