Office Hours The Best Way to Get Your Resume Noticed Especially When Youre Over 40

Office Hours The Best Way to Get Your Resume Noticed Especially When Youre Over 40 Welcome to Office Hours. Were so glad you dropped by. This new column is an manahme of The Fine Line and Fairygodboss created to address the career questions of women 40 and older. The Fine Lineis a lifestyle publication that provides cutting-edge guidance and practical resources for women who are redefining what it means to grow older.Each month,a Fairygodbossexpertwill answer a question from one of our readers. If you have a question about finding a job, starting a new career, or an issue in the workplace, please write us athellothefinelinemag.com.Q When the only way to apply for a job is to send my resume through a website, how can I stand out from the hundreds of other applicants especially since I am over 40?AYou find a job for which youre a perfect fit Your experience is applicable, your attitude is positive, and youre certain no one else has as many years under their belt as you do. So you upl oad your resumeand click submit. Its off to the abyss of the internet, and youre not even sure anyone is going to see it, let alone consider it given your age.Applying for jobs by sending your resumethrough a website (as opposed to emailing or mailing it directly to a human) can be disconcerting. Websites get hundreds of applications, and its impossible to know if anyone will lay eyeballs on them or if theyll just end up in a cyberspace pileup. Your concern is valid, because the truth is that the resumesthat are most read are the ones that are handed directly to a hiring manager the recommended resumes. But even if you dont have a connection at the company where youre applying, you can still make your resume stand out, regardless of how old you are.Its important that youmake sure your resumeis tailored to the jobfor which youre applying. Because youve been in the working world for 20 or more years, you likely have worked a few jobs and may have even spanned industries. This means t hat you may have multiple resumesper field, so make sure that you use the appropriate one.Then make sure that your resumeis only one page and that its neat and readable (read bullets, numbers, consistency). If you need more space, make your periods smaller and extend your margins. You can ditch the clich objective and even drop the obvious soft skills (though be sure to keep any specific skills, volunteer experience, projects, andskills you cant afford to leave off). Then, if you still need more space, youre probably including too much. Focus only on the last 10 years your most relevant and recent work, organized by month and year.Use wording that mirrors the language used in the job description, but tell your own narrative. And be sure to use action verbs and keep a consistently confident tone. You want your resumeto read professionally but easily.Once you have a polished and relevant resume, ask people you know to pass it on. Chances are that you know someone who knows someone in your industry, so apply online and then let anyone and everyone know that you have, so hiring managers can be sure to look out for your name once they know youve submitted an application. LinkedIn is great for networking always keep yours up to date.If you need more help with your resume, check out50 Resume Tips to Make Yours Pop. If you missed The Fine Lines profile on Fairygodboss co-founder Romy Newman,read it here.