One way to get a job in this challenging climate is to have a recruitment company help you on your job search. There are many recruitment agencies in Singapore. But before you reach out to them, you need to write a resume to market yourself!
Here are 5 tips to ace your resume writing so you can make an impression to the recruitment agency!
 
1. Know who your target audience isWhat are the companies that you're hoping to work for? What work have they done? What qualities do they look for in employees? What kind of culture do they have there? Research through the internet, or by meeting relevant people in the industry. Wording your resume such that it not only represents you, but will also reach out to your target audience is key. This is also dependent on the kind of industries that you're applying to work in. According to the target audience, incorporate major keywords that align with the job description.
2. Present your information clearly and use proactive action verbsYou'll need to structure your information such that it has headers such as education, work experience, and career goal. This will help the HR manager who is reading your resume have a clearer idea instead of being overwhelmed by information. It is also useful to start off with the 'work experience' section and then the 'education' section. Keep the font size to a standard 10, 11 or 12. Start off each point with effective verbs such as 'developed, implemented, directed, supervised, created, facilitated, initiated, provided, solved, guided and tracked'.
3. Follow the STAR methodThe STAR acronym stands for Situation, Task, Action and Results. For every point that you bring up, it has to be a situation in which you are challenged. Then, there is a goal that you have to reach that is referred to as the task. The action comes next, meaning what steps did you take to achieve that goal. And lastly, you have to state the results that you achieved. Were your actions successful in helping you to obtain your goal and overcome the challenge? What lessons did you take away from the experience? Remember to highlight your accomplishments rather than just your responsibilities.


4. Emphasise on specific experiences that you chose to go for that will make you stand outIt could be that you joined a specific CCA and built a specific skill that others didn't have. Or that you initiated a project in something that you're passionate about. You can write about the soft skills that are essential to every job, no matter which industry you're in. This will also allude to the kind of interests you have as a person, and will let the HR manager know if you'll be a culture fit.
5. Include a skills summarySkills show the HR manager that you have taken time to develop working skills. Write about the kinds of softwares that you're familiar with, and describe your level of proficiency. If at this point, you haven't picked up any specific skillsets yet, fret not. It will be useful to go onto LinkedIn and take a look at what skillsets those in the industry that you aspire to work at have.


Slowly but surely, your resume will become a good marketing tool for yourself as a person. Remember to check for spelling errors and have friends or seniors in the industry look through your resume. Sometimes, another pair of eyes can help, especially when you've been at it for long. Take that first step to scoring the job of your desire and work on that resume to send out to recruitment agencies!