No matter your employment status, it is highly likely that you have already got a resume saved to your computer that you can easily access at any time. It might be the resume that got you your current job, one you have been sending out looking for a better role or even one that you are currently using to get your first step up onto the career ladder. No matter how successful the resume has been in the past, it is important that you adapt it to every single job you apply for. Even if the job requirements seem very similar to one you have applied for before, every employer is looking for someone slightly different with a slightly different set of skills. This is especially the case if you are applying for a leadership role within a business. Here is a look at some of the ways you can prepare your resume ready to apply 

Further your education

You might think once you have completed college or even high school that your education is over. That does not have to be the case. There are lots of courses, such as a masters in leadership online course that you can complete at any time in your career. The great thing about these courses is that you can complete them alongside your current job. Unlike when you were younger, you do not have to move to a campus or attend several different lessons every day of the week to complete a masters in leadership online. All you need is a laptop and access to the internet, and you can complete all of the course’s content online. You can also choose exactly when and how you complete all of the course material. For example, if your job keeps you busy in the mornings, you do not have to be worried about making it to a 9am lecture every week. You could choose what time you put aside to complete your masters in leadership online, whether that be very early in the morning, in the evenings once you get home from work or even on the weekends if you would rather. 

You might think that this is a lot of effort to go to for what will ultimately be a couple of lines on your resume. What is important to remember, is when it comes to a resume it is not quantity but quality. Not only does a degree like a masters in leadership online course show that you have developed your leadership skills, it also shows you have gone above and beyond to better yourself. Employers are always looking for people who are motivated to improve their own skills to help improve the business, so a masters in leadership online course would be one of the best ways of demonstrating this much sought after personality trait. As it is an online course, it also means it will cause less disruption to your life. Many masters in leadership online courses can be completed within a year, meaning you can learn everything you need to know about leadership within a very short amount of time. The sooner you complete the course, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of this new skillset. 

List your skills and talk about their relevance to the job you are applying for

One of the main things you will want to include on any resume are the skills that make you stand out from the rest. Whilst you might think it is as simple as listing what you are good at, it is important to also explain why these skills would make you the ideal candidate for this job. Look at the requirements for each job advert and try and match them to the skills that you list on your resume. For example, if a job requires someone to be experienced with a particular piece of software, it is not good enough to put down that you are confident using computers. You should talk about which software you have experience using. There is a big difference in being confident in using a word processor and an excel spreadsheet. As well as just saying you are confident, talk about some of the things you are skilled at completing with that software. For example, you could say that you are skilled at producing reliable formulas to accurately calculate the businesses finances and give the most insightful look into the day to the profitability of the company.

It is also not enough to simply say you are good at something. If getting a job was that easy, then we would all be applying for the best paid jobs in the country. You also need to be able to prove that you are as good as you say you are. You need to be able to prove skills that you have learnt, whether that is on the job or a masters in leadership online A lot of the times employers will test your abilities with pre-interview assignments or even examinations during the interview process. Before you get to that point, it is still a good idea that you give the employer a reason to be confident that you truly understand how to do the things you say you are skilled at. Failure to do so could see you eliminated from the job application process before you even get to the interview stage and are able to demonstrate your practical skills as part of an examination or an assignment. Try and think of real-life examples where you have used those skills to help your previous business. For example, you could say that you are skilled in producing effective social media and designed a campaign for your previous business that significantly increased your follower numbers and in turn visitors to the website. Being able to explain exactly how good you are at these skills, and how beneficial this skillset will be to a business, will put you in the best possible chance of securing that position. 

Talk about the responsibilities you had at each job

As well as somebody that is skilled, any group of people looking at your resume and considering whether to invite you to an interview will also be looking for someone that they can trust. It is all well and good being fully trained to do the job, whether that is through experience or through completing a masters in leadership online, but you also need to put the effort in. If you are lazy, late and simply disobedient, an employer could end up hiring someone that does not get the work completed on time or to a high standard. It is often difficult to persuade somebody that you have just met that they can trust you. It is even more difficult to persuade someone you have never met with just a few sides of paper.

One of the best ways to convince an interview panel that they can trust you is to try and explain exactly how much trust you gained from your previous or your current employer. For example, if you were given any extra responsibilities over your colleagues, list those on your job application. This could be anything from being responsible for running the businesses social media pages, running promotional campaigns or something as simple as making sure the business does not run out of supplies. You might think that being in charge of something as simple as checking the level of pens and printer toner you have in the office and reordering them when necessary might be a minor responsibility. The reality is that anybody who has ever worked in an office knows exactly how important these small things can be to the day to day running of any business. The sheer fact that an employer chose you over any of your colleagues to complete this task shows that they had a lot more trust in you to make sure the job gets completed correctly. 

Format your layout to show off your technical skills

When looking through applications for a new job, an employer will probably look through lots of different documents at the same time. It is highly likely that around 90 percent of these resumes will look exactly the same. They will be printed in the same fonts, with the same text positioned in the same way. That is why it is not only just important to make sure the text you include in your resume helps you stand out from the rest of the candidates. It is also important that the overall design is impressive, so it helps you stand out from the rest of the crowd when they first glance at your resume. If they are impressed with their first glance at the resume, they are more likely to want to spend more time reading your resume to learn about the person who put together this impressive design. 

Resume design does not only help you stand out from the crowd. It also helps demonstrate how skilful you are at using certain types of software. For example, if a job requires someone to have a good understanding of using Word, try and use as many of the features within the software that are appropriate for a resume. This could include anything from splitting the page into two or even three columns to make the use of any wasted white space on the page, to including formatted headings to each section. If you are applying for a job where design skills are especially important, like a graphic designer or another equally creative role, it is just as important to design a CV that shows of your skills. If this is the case, try and think outside the box. Instead of writing a simple word document, why not create an infographic or a short video on the software they would expect you to be able to use to impress your potential new bosses. 

Do not forget the most simple pieces of information

When you are thinking of all the creative ways you can impress your potential new boss, it can often be easy to forget the simple things. When it comes to a resume, there are certain things that probably will not persuade an employer to give you a job but are vital for them to have as part of the job process. For example, if you forget to include contact details like your phone number or your email address, they simply will not have any way of being able to invite you to the next stage of the interview process. Whilst they might be able to go back through previous correspondence you have had with them to try and find a way of getting in touch with you, the fact that they would have to go to the effort to rectify one of your mistakes is not a good first impression to make with a new employer. Instead, make sure all of this important information is clearly displayed at the top of the resume. If you have completed any additional education, like a masters in leadership online, make sure you include the institution you studied at and when you completed the course.

If there are certain skills that are vital to the role, it is also important that you demonstrate you have those skills or qualifications on your resume. If a job advert says the role requires someone with a clean driving license, do not just presume that they will know that you have one. Make sure you explicitly say that you do within the resume. An interview panel will not want to waste time meeting with someone who simply is not qualified enough to be able to carry out a job, so are highly likely to choose to not offer you an interview if they are concerned that you do not have an important skill or qualification.  

Check, check and check again 

Once you have completed your job resume, it is important to check that every single word in that document is correct. First, check that it all reads correctly, makes sense and none of your sentence structures sound too clunky. Check that you have spelt every word correctly, especially certain technical terms or brands that your software spellchecker might not pick up on. Then check all of the information is factually correct. Double check things like your phone number and your email address, as if you get these incorrect you might simply not receive any invitation to the next stage of the interview process.