4 CVs that stood out and why

Writing a resume is not rocket science. But it does have its rules. Even rocket scientists need resumes, and a good one at that if they expect to land a job at companies like SpaceX or Blue Origin.

The problem is how do you get discovered at such companies when they get hundreds of resumes for every open position.

If you are a rocket scientist, we recommend preparing the best science resume that demonstrates your Wernher von Braun-level skills and sending it to the recruiters.

For the rest of you, we are about to share the top 4 CVs that should be out and explain what lessons you can take from them.

Read on to see the transformations your current resumes need.

A resume that says it all

Here’s a resume of a candidate who switched careers from aerospace program management to IT project management.

Pay attention to how the top section of her resume is crafted to include highlights of her accomplishment to meet the demand of the job. According to several eye-tracking studies, recruiters spend most of their time looking at the top-third section of a resume. They take only seven seconds to decide whether a candidate is fit for the role or not.

In this example, the resume has the relevant experience but with a sparkle. She highlighted-

“Saved 100 labour hours/wk & $500,000+ per year at B/E Aerospace through IT streamlining & automation.”

Any hiring manager will be insane if they overlook such an accomplishment, especially from a candidate who will be taking up a project management role.

This resume is an outstanding example of how to show off and quantify your achievements.

A resume that speaks in numbers 

Here is another resume that focuses on presenting the accomplishment in numbers. We have often seen job seekers being too afraid of coming across as bull-headed. But this resume shows how a numeric representation of important accomplishments can make your resume look great.

This is a sales expert resume and it utilizes the numbers exceptionally well to highlight the performance of a sales professional.

Remember, numbers speak louder than words.

Thinking, “well, accomplishments can make a resume stand out, but it doesn’t apply to me as I don’t work with hard numbers”?

 Get out of your head and learn to illustrate your work performance in the best way possible.

As a software professional, you can include your accomplishments in terms of performance improvements, automation numbers, projects successfully delivered, the number of teams you managed, and more.

Here’s a detailed resource you can refer to on how to add achievements to a resume.

Resume that’s ATS compliant 

Application Tracking Software or ATS is now used by most companies to comb through a large number of resumes and select the best fitting ones.

An ATS is a resume sorting bot that collects, scans, and prioritizes resumes saving a lot of human hours for HR. Fortunately, it’s quite simple to make your resume stand out for both ATS and human recruiters.

Here is an example of a job well done.

First, the resume uses simple fonts that are readable to humans and machines alike. But most importantly, this resume stands out because it uses the right resume keywords. It uses phrases such as ‘IT strategies’, ‘IT department management, and ‘IT logistics’ and imitates the language of the job description.

Finally, just ATS-friendly content won’t help, the template must also be parsable like the example above. It has all the elements laid out strategically such that ATS can scan. It follows a reverse-chronological layout. Each section is easily identifiable and the selection of sections is not random. An ATS-friendly resume must have all the skills that are relevant as per the job description in the appropriate sections of the resume.

Pay attention to the template above, the skills and languages sections aren’t fillers but specifically chosen.

Resume that’s visually appealing 

Chris Rowe is a creative leader who works as a freelancer as well as with several teams.

His resume is outstandingly creative not only because of its visual appearance but also how intensely well Chris describes himself in his resume. Pay attention to the section “The Intangibles.” He provided an insight into his capabilities as a visual artist who can create a truly unique digital experience for users uniquely and distinctively. Rather than sticking with explanatory summaries, he uses graphics to let recruiters know about his personality.

Also, he segregates his talent and skills as Knowledge, Design, Management & Communication. This lets recruiters immediately know about their main areas of expertise. As a front-end developer, you might take inspiration from Chris’ creative resume.

We hope these examples of CVs that stand out will provide you with the needed inspiration to transform your resume to catch the eyes of the recruiters.

Talent500 can help you more than just resume creation, we upskill and groom software professionals to land jobs at some of the biggest companies around the world. Join our elite team of talent to broaden your horizons.