The recent pandemic has fast tracked the digital transformation in companies. Time is of the essence if you are a fresh graduate or mid-career switcher looking to fill these new roles. These steps will help you craft a resume for digital job openings.
Update your LinkedIn profile
Many of the openings for digital positions are coming from the SME sector. The Managing Directors(MD) in SMEs often wear many hats, one of which is talent acquisition and recruitment. They rely heavily on LinkedIn as a filtering tool to find the most ideal candidate for the job.
If you put yourself in the shoes of a very busy MD and craft your profile targeted to catch their eye, you stand a higher chance of landing an interview. Keep your summary concise yet impactful. Imagine creating a movie trailer where the movie is your resume.
Some key things SME recruiters are looking out for in your LinkedIn Profile:
- Your Profile Image (How you introduce yourself?)
- Your Availability (How soon can you start?)
- Your Nationality (Do you require an Employment Pass?)
- Negotiable Salary (Are you open to negotiating your salary?)
Remember: Before Recruiters look at your resume, they will do a preliminary selection using LinkedIn, so keep it updated and targeted to the digital jobs you are applying for.
While LinkedIn is the most often used Social Media platform for recruitment, recruiters may also screen your other Social Media profiles to find out more about you, before calling you in for an interview.
Keep your resume short and create a digital portfolio
When applying for any job, first impressions matter.
As a job seeker for a digital position, show employers you are comfortable with adopting digital processes right from the start, by adding a link to your digital portfolio in your resume right at the top.
A digital portfolio allows you to keep your resume short and focus on the facts. Employers are not interested in reading a long and tedious resume. They want to be able to pick out the necessary experience and skillset they need an employee to have to succeed in the job role. Once they find a potential candidate who meets their preliminary criteria, having a digital portfolio linked to your resume allows them to see your skills in action.
Impress them with the different multimedia tools at your disposal.
Remember: A digital portfolio gives you the flexibility to present your strengths in the best way possible, without the limits imposed on a standard word document, so make it count!
Keep your previous work experience concise yet visible
When crafting your resume, there is a strong tendency to put all your previous work experience. This is understandable because you are proud of the work you have accomplished and the results you have achieved.
However, by overly cluttering your resume with too many details, employers will lose interest or may not even look at your resume because of its lengthiness. Furthermore, employers are busy, and a resume that is overly detailed with long-form content, instead of short easily digested points is less appealing.
If you are a mid-career switcher and have already spent a good 5 years in the working world, this can take up a big portion of your resume.
However, keep in mind that you are no longer looking for a job in the same industry. Employers are looking out for certain things when going through your resume so these few items should stand out:
- Previous Company Name
- Your Role in the Company
- 1 or 2 Key Achievements
- Work Duration
Remember: The details of your previous work experience can be shared once employers call you in for an interview.
Right now, the main focus of your resume should be landing the coveted interview.
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Showcase relevant digital skills in your resume
Digital job postings usually request candidates with a certain amount of experience. This averages between one to five years. However, fresh graduates and mid-career switchers do not need to be demoralised or disheartened by this.
Apply with targeted resumes that address potential concerns employers might have due to the lack of experience.
Employers ask for the experience because they want certainty that you not only have the skills but have put them into practice. Take initiative and make things happen even while you are unemployed.
Why tell employers your skills when you can show them?
For example, if you are a job seeker looking for a role in Social Media Marketing:
- Find a local enterprise in your area or a voluntary programme and offer to set up their social media account and help them manage it for a period of time.
- Grow their network of followers so that it reaches its targeted number in the time given. This shows employers that you proactively sought real-world experience and are a self-starter.
- Pique their interest with a Call To Action to contact you to find out how you did it, and how you can grow their social media accounts as well.
Alternatively, you could research and prepare a detailed case study of how you would grow the social media accounts of the company you are applying to. This will show employers that while you lack experience, you make up for it with hard work, passion, and initiative. Their interest will be piqued – increasing your chances of landing an interview!
This will add weight to the digital skills listed in your resume and definitely make you more interesting to employers. While this is significantly more time-consuming and requires considerable effort, it will pay off in the future especially if it is a digital field you are really interested in going into.
Remember: While some of your skills may not seem directly related to the role you are applying for, show employers how they can still add value to the role.
For example, if you are applying for a role as a Content Strategist or Web Copywriter, having Photoshop may not be necessary but would certainly be an advantage.
This article is contributed by Verz Design.
