Four Resume Tips that Can Help Manufacturing Candidates Stand Out

As a candidate in the manufacturing industry, you probably have a few things working in your favor: You’ve probably accumulated a few years of experience, you’ve completed some relevant training courses (or a formal degree), and you have the ambition and work ethic required for success in a challenging field. But unfortunately, just about every other candidate in the pool will hold these three credentials as well. So what can you do to set yourself apart? How can you bring you resume to the top of the stack and grab the attention of your reviewers? Try these simple moves.

Stay Concrete

Instead of stocking your resume with abstract, generic phrases like “I’m a hard worker” or “I’m driven to succeed”, try being a little more specific. When you say you “work hard”, does that mean you have an unbroken attendance record? Does it mean you’re willing to put in overtime hours? Does it mean your productivity quotas are above average? And if so, then by how much?

Use Numbers

While you’re making an effort to keep your claims specific, attach numbers to as many as you can. How many units do you typically process per hour? Have you held a leadership position, and if so, how many people were on your team? What does your safety record look like? Can you attach numbers to your previous annual performance reviews, the grades you’ve earned, or the revenue you raised for your former employers? Adding numbers, timelines and quantities to your claims will make them more interesting to read and easier to remember.

Find a Hook

You have plenty of traits and qualifications that line up perfectly with the traits and qualifications of every other candidate and every other resume. But you also have something else, something none of these other candidates can offer. What might that special skill or credential be? Here’s a hint: Usually your truly unique skill sets and abilities lie in an overlap between two generic ones (or more). For example, plenty of candidates in the pool probably know how to speak Spanish. And plenty of them probably know how to code in HTML. But how many of them know how to do both? How many of them have had leadership training AND know how to drive a forklift? How many are CPR certified AND have CNC experience? Magnify your special abilities by pairing them.

Keep your Cover Letter Sharp

Your resume may be great…but it still won’t get you very far unless it’s paired with a concise, relevant, beautifully written cover letter. Get some editing help and make sure your cover letter provides your resume with the support it needs.

For more on how to create a resume that grabs the spotlight, reach out to the job search experts at Lift Temp.