A new year is upon us and it’s time to get that career you’ve been looking at. The first step in doing that is writing your resume. Or dusting it off. 

Let’s take a look at some of the top trends coming this year that you’ll definitely want to adhere to when you write your resume.

1. Location

With hybrid and remote work dominating the field, I get asked a lot about whether to put a location on resumes or not.

Historically, the answer would have been a resounding yes. Now, it’s a little trickier. 

You’ll still want to include your location, but you don’t need your full address. City and state will do. 

But you have a whole host of options and none of them are wrong.

As stated, just city and state is still the standard, but we’re looking at trends. The most recent trend I’ve seen is listing your region. 

Some examples include: 

Central Austin 

Greater San Antonio Area

Another location trend is listing relocation status and national region, such as Midwest, Pacific Northwest, etc. 

2. Dynamic Wording and Quantifiable Achievements

This is a trend that has been moving upward for the past few years. Gone are the days of writing, “Responsible for greeting customers and keeping the schedule.”

Now your resume needs to be filled with wording that catches, and holds, the attention of the hiring manager with solid achievements that can be backed up.

“Create a warm and inviting environment by greeting 25+ customers daily with a client-centric attitude.”

Which person would you prefer to hire after reading those two examples? Most likely the one who shows you they know what kind of environment your company wants.

Quantifiable achievements mean adding some numbers to your resume so the hiring managers know you aren’t a cut and paste. It makes your resume unique to you. 

According to a study published by Talentworks, adding numbers to your resume increases your hireability by 40%! Get that quantification in your resume, stat.

3. Create a Brand Statement

A brand statement is a VERY quick, 15 WORD, highly tailored statement highlighting your best skills or achievements right beneath your name and contact information. 

This statement should be very specific and targeted to the position you are applying. 

Here is an example of a strong brand statement:

13+ years of success inspiring teams and boosting performance through people-focused hospital administration

Short. Impactful. Keyword rich. Exactly what a brand statement should be.

4. Inject Personality and Emotional Intelligence

Soft skills are incredibly important and it’s worth mentioning them on your resume. In fact, according to CareerBuilder, some of the top qualities hiring managers are looking for in employees include communication skills, listening skills, and emotional intelligence.

That makes it important to imbue your resume with language that shows you are capable of communication, listening, and empathy.

You also don’t want to seem like a robot. So, it’s okay to inject a little personality into your resume. The executive summary is a perfect place to do so. The best way is to throw in some adjectives describing, point blank, who you are.

5. Avoid Mistakes

We all make mistakes, but one place where there are no excuses for doing so is on your resume. This is a trend that will likely never go away.

Here is an awesome chart I found outlining the most common resume mistakes to avoid in 2023.

Source: Career Builder

I have 3 tricks to help you avoid typos or bad grammar in your resume.

1. Have a friend read your resume
2. Change the font to a silly one, like Comic Sans to pull your attention back to the words
3. Sleep on it. Give yourself one night’s rest then read your resume fresh the next day

As for the other mistakes, and unprofessional email address is easy to fix. Just remember to check your new email as a lot of recruiters will initially contact you through email first.

I addressed adding quantifiable results above in trend number 2 to look out for this year.

In regard to resumes with long paragraphs of text, they are referring to a wall of text in the experience. Bullet points are your friend in the experience section. They help to create a staccato feel to the resume that helps hold recruiters’ attention. 

Last, but not least, generic resumes must go. Plan on spending time customizing your resume to every position you are considering.

Key Takeaways

• Make sure you are putting at least the city and state of your location on your resume.
• Use some creativity and metrics when writing your achievement-based bullet points.
• Craft a simple, but memorable, brand statement.
• Show your personality and your soft skills on your resume.
• Don’t make any mistakes!

Need some help making sure your resume is following 2023 trends? 

Let’s Connect!

Reach out today: www.resumeassassin.com or mary@resumeassassin.com

Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mary-southern

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