With so many climate change and animal conservation issues in the world today, it should hardly be surprising that jobs related to the environment are on the rise. If you’re thinking of joining this sector or want to rise within its ranks, it’s important to put together a resume that will get you attention for the right reasons. Read on for some tips you can follow today.
Use a Format That Works
For starters, resume success stems from using a practical document format that recruiters, business owners and hiring managers find professional and clear. Don’t try to get attention by using crazy fonts, colors or other features; instead, ensure your CV is easy to read, uses a recognizable font (Times New Roman, Arial and Calibri are all good options) and is in a size that doesn’t require people to squint.
You should also break up your document into separate sections and use bullet points and various headings plus short paragraphs of text to make it scannable. People reading your resume are going to have dozens of documents to look over in a day; they don’t have much time to spend on each one and need to be able to scan CVs to work out what’s a quick “no,” and what’s worth coming back to later for another, more comprehensive read.
It pays to include all the most important details at the top of your resume. This will help readers immediately see that you’re checking the boxes they require. Also leave plenty of white space on each page rather than cramming in stacks of text, so the document looks more professional and is easier to read.
Tailor Information for Each Job
Next, something not enough people do when writing their resume is to tailor the information they include to the specific job they’re after. Though you will have a template CV you can use as the basis for your applications, so you don’t have to start from scratch each time, but do make sure you tweak this document before submitting it.
Even though you may think jobs with the same title are always very similar, there are usually some differences or certain areas that recruiters are more focused on when evaluating applicants’ experience and credentials. As such, review the job ad with a fine-toothed comb to determine what you really need to focus on and which keywords to include.
Note that many companies use specific recruiting software, which searches through resumes for set terms or phrases. This means you need to include anything that may be relevant. For example, you may need to mention a particular online undergraduate degree in sustainability or environmental sciences; a tech skill you’ve gained or experience in environmental non-profit work.
A good way to ensure you’re tailoring your CV for each job is to speak with a recruiter one-on-one. If a phone number is available, ring and chat with the person looking after this particular hiring choice and ask relevant and detailed questions. You can also research the employer online to find out pertinent information. No matter how you go about it, make sure you discover things like the company’s culture, history, areas of specialization, newly-released or announced products or services and the like.
Get Others to Proofread Your Document
Lastly, never submit a resume without having at least one other person look over it for you. While you might read over the document 10 times, your familiarity with your resume will allow your mind to skip over spelling and grammatical mistakes, formatting errors, inconsistencies, and other problems that will be glaring to hiring managers.
Your brain knows what is meant to be on the page, and what you think, feel, have researched, have experience in and more, so it’s easy to miss out on including relevant information or to just skip over errors. Always have a trusted friend, family member or colleague read over the document carefully for you. If possible, have someone who is experienced in the field you work in look it over, or consider hiring a professional resume writer to go over it. They will likely pick up on issues that other people don’t.
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