With hundreds of applications being received for popular positions, your resume can easily get tossed aside or get lost in a pile. So what can you do to ensure that you get a foot in through the door?

What are the current Resume trends? What do recruiters look for in a Resume?

1. Besides core skills, admission/recruitment teams are now also considering personality traits and emotional intelligence.
   • They want candidates who are not only qualified and have requisite skills, but also fit into their culture.
   • Your communication skills, leadership, teamwork, ability to multi-task and study/work under pressure and deadlines need to be highlighted.
2. Putting quantifiable results will always get the employer’s attention. Putting down only your duties and responsibilities is not enough. Write down specific, factual, and quantified accomplishments. Example, increased sales by X percentage, increased profitability by X Dollars, saved company X Dollars, etc.
3. Your resume needs to be suitable for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). This software is used by recruiters to scan, sort, and rank job applications, based on keywords, experience, and skills that match the job position. 
   • Therefore, it is important to optimize your resume by putting multiple keywords – especially from the job description, and industry skills, otherwise you will be rejected even if you are the most qualified and suitable applicant.
   • It is also important that your resume be in an ATS-friendly template, for example, ATS doesn’t know how to handle tables or images.
   • It is best to use a basic font and uniform size for the entire document and no other color besides black.
   • Using simple bullets is a good policy.
   • Additionally, parsing accuracy increases with correct sequencing of information and docx and pdf file types work well for this purpose. It is good practice to send both files if possible and to name the files with your full name and position applied for.
4. Social media is important – most employers are checking social media profiles even if links are not provided by applicants. This applies not only to LinkedIn – therefore, it is not only crucial to have a well thought out LinkedIn account but also to keep a clean social media presence.
5. Technical skills in your resume will be of benefit to you, especially if you can provide evidence of situations where you have used them, and the outcome. You usually acquire these skills through education, training or on the job. If you lack such skills, it can be a good idea to search for suitable online courses and gain requisite knowledge of the same. Examples of Technical Skills: 
   • Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Access, OneNote.
   • Google Drive: Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides.
   • Writing: Technical writing, ghostwriting.
   • Social Media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Blog Writing.
   • Graphic Design: InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Draw.
   • Web: WordPress, Javascript, HTML.
   • Enterprise Systems: Payment Processing, Automated Billing, Customer Relationship Management (Oracle Netsuite, Salesforce), Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP, Oracle).
   • Research: Advanced Google search, source checking, intellectual property rights.
   • Programming Skills: SQL, Java, C++, HTML, JavaScript, XML, Python, PHP, AJAX, ASP.NET.
   • Project Management Skills: Task management, task separation, prioritization, scheduling, risk management, Scrum.
   • Video Creation: Shooting, writing/editing, compressing, uploading.
   • Presenting: Public speaking, PowerPoint, Keynote.