Resume writing tips: Three easy ways to get noticed

Everyone who needs a job is looking for resume writing tips on how to get their resume noticed. The first major hurdle every job seeker faces is getting the employer to pick their resume out of the dozens or even hundreds being considered.

If your resume isn't noticed, the potential employer will never even know about your skills and accomplishments.

Here’s three simple, easy ways to make sure your resume gets noticed.

1. Be different.

This is a little more complicated than it used to be. When I was looking for my first job several decades ago, a friend advised me to use off-white paper for my resume so it would stand out in a stack. Today, nearly every resume will be some shade of off-white, so you’ll have to get noticed another way.

One way is to use some type of graphic on your resume. You might use your photo, but also consider other element as well.

Be sure you don’t take this suggestion too far. You don’t want your resume to look tacky. Keep it professional.


2. Take chances.

This can also be taken too far, but the risk is well worth it. You want to point out every positive aspect of your experience that will help you get an interview.

For example, when I was first trying to get a job writing for a newspaper, the only experience I had was working on my school newspaper. A friend who was helping me with my resume asked me to tell him about the stories I’d written. One story had gotten attention across campus. The school’s president had written a letter to the editor calling it a fine piece of student journalism.

The story and the president’s letter were mentioned prominently on my resume. The result sounded much better than a generic listing that I’d been the associate editor at a school newspaper.


3. Know yourself.

This seems like it’d be obvious, but often our sense of humility makes it easy to overlook achievements that will improve our resume.

While working on one of my first resumes, the person helping me out asked me to tell him everything I’d ever done that involved writing. When I finished the list, we had a number of true experiences that I could add to my resume. I tailored those accomplishments to fit the job I was seeking.


These resume writing tips will help your resume get noticed in a way that makes it more likely that you’ll get an interview. Moreover, they’ll likely serve as entry points for you to mention while you’re talking with a potential employer.


Steve DeVane

(Note: This program has given me some great resume writing tips that have improved my job prospects.)