Searching for a job can be a stressful endeavor, and being fully prepared for it is critical. The best tool in your arsenal is your resume.

Creating a resume that is as custom-tailored as your interview attire is an absolute must. This document is your biggest advocate and best source of praise, which is why you want to make it count. It not only demonstrates your skills and experience, but its presentation says a lot about you as a person.

You want to create a clean and concise layout for your resume. Humans are visual creatures, and this does not exclude recruiters, or HR representatives. By having a resume that looks clean and well organized, you present yourself as someone who is professional, organized, and took time in developing your personal details. This makes you more desirable than “the other guy,” and is far more of a noticeable trait than a resume that is jam-packed with information. Most resumes won’t see a full reading—so make it count.

Below are a few simple tips to get you moving through creating a thoughtful and clean resume:

1. Employers want to see results, so use action words and phrases to show what you have accomplished: “Analyzed and gathered web data for lead generation.”
2. Be sure to use a professional email with your first and last name included like: john.doe1@gmail.com. Do not use emails that are unprofessional.
3. Use a font that is neat and concise. Arial, Calibri, Garamond, and Times New Roman are all examples of appropriate fonts.
4. Have variation in your resume. Tailor your resume to the specific job you are applying for. Take items from the job description and place them within your resume, as this will resonate to the hiring manager.
5. It might seem silly to say, but please SPELL CHECK. If you have a typo or grammatical error, it signifies to the reader that you aren’t thorough and lack attention to detail. If it was not worth the time to spell check, it is certainly not worth reading, and will quickly find its way to the recycling bin.

Though you spend hours making your resume stand out, hiring managers just want to be able to easily weed through their very large pile of resumes as quickly as possible. Sending in a clean resume that gets straight to the point will be your best bet at landing the interview.

Stay tuned for more in our Tuesday Tips Series.