Looking to snag a new job? Spruce up your old resume? Showcase your skills?

Check out my top 3 strategies + tips for making your resume stand out from the crowd.

1. Make it Visually Appealing

Gone are the days when a resume was simply a bullet pointed list.

Resumes are now a complete and total representation of who you are, what you've accomplished, and what you can potentially bring to a specific brand or company.

Resumes should not be something boring to look at. Imagine if you were the person in charge of finding a new person to hire at your company. Suppose you get 200 applicants. That means you now have to look over 200 separate resumes. Reviewing those resumes could take hours on end!

If you were the person looking to hire, Wouldn't you rather see something colorful, intriguing, and beautifully organized rather than something black and white?

Make your resume stand out by putting time into making it and organizing your information/credentials.

The other day, I saw someone's resume that was a VIDEO GAME. Yes, you read that correctly. The person had created a Mario-like interactive video game that showed their software/app developing skills. How cool is that?!

While not everyone may want a video game, you can still be super creative in your layout. Think of ways to set your design and content out from other applicants.

2. Spell Check

I cannot stress this point enough.

If you have spelling errors/grammar mistakes in your resume, you are pretty much ensuring that you will not get the job. Honestly! Who would decide to hire someone that cannot write a one/two page resume about themselves without grammar mistakes?

In one of my college writing classes, my professor told us a story that relates to this very topic. See, my professor's dad was a very high-up corporate businessman and had a ton of power and respect in his industry. She told us that whenever her dad read a resume with just ONE spelling/grammar error, he would throw it in the garbage can.

She said that a person could be the most qualified for a job opening, but if her father found a mistake, their chances were gone. Yikes!

My favorite way to ensure that I never misspell in my career writing is to use Grammarly.

Grammarly is literally my secret weapon that saves me a from ton of headaches. The tool can easily be installed into Google Chrome, and when activated, automatically underlines and catches your grammar and spelling mistakes.

3. Use keywords

Something to think about when creating your resume is word choice. Using keywords and strong verbs help to set you apart from other applicants. Imagine the person reviewing your resume only has a few minutes to scan through your resume...put as much impact into it as possible.

Some keywords/strong verbs to use:

-achieved
-influenced
-negotiated
-identified
-targeted
-valued

What tips do you have for making your resume stand out?