I was a recruiter for 15 years. The best job candidates don't crunch their résumé onto one page, they follow these tips instead.

• Dani Herrera has worked in recruitment for 15 years, reviewing résumés and LinkedIn profiles.
• She shares insight, resources and tips for improving résumés and LinkedIn profiles.
• Her tips include using active verbs on your résumé and using the "featured" section on LinkedIn.

I was a recruiter for 15 years, working in technology, advertising, marketing, and business.

I've spent thousands of hours reading, reviewing, and editing résumés and LinkedIn profiles. I've interviewed thousands of people and worked with hundreds of hiring managers. 

I've coached junior and senior talent on résumé writing and have seen how other recruiters and staffing agencies approach reviewing résumés.

These are my tips on making your résumés and LinkedIn profiles stand out.

Résumés

1. Keep your formatting clean

Avoid using multiple colors, fonts, font sizes, illustrations, or logos. This has nothing to do with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) scanning your résumé and everything to do with making the information easy to read and digest. Recruiters and hiring managers go over hundreds of résumés a day, so you want to make sure that your information is easy and accessible to read.

2. Don't crunch everything onto one page

Two pages are completely fine, especially if you are at the more senior level.

Don't leave important bits of your experience out just because you think you need to have everything on one page. But avoid going over two pages.

3. Use bullet points instead of paragraphs

You want to make sure your point is coming across clearly and quickly.

Bullet points are easier and faster to read, they push you to summarize what's important and focus on the story you want to convey. Everything else can go on your LinkedIn profile.

4. Use the 'accomplished X as measured by Y, by doing Z' formula to describe your experience

Trying to fit your many years of experience onto two pages and using bullet points isn't always easy.

The XYZ formula will help you explain what you've accomplished by showcasing the steps that got you there. 

For example "selected as one of 40 under 40 Latinos in NYC by hosting free training sessions for recruiters and hiring managers to develop their diversity recruitment strategies"

5. Use active verbs

Not all active verbs are created equal. Too many people use verbs like "assisted" or "helped" when they actually owned the entire project — they may have managed it, supervised it, or directed it. By using "assisted", you might give off the impression that you didn't do much.

6. Forget about the applicant tracking system

Another urban myth I want to see skyrocket to the sun. 

Repeat after me "No, the ATS will not remove my résumé from the running".

When recruiters ask you to "focus on your keywords," they don't mean that an evil algorithm is going to read your résumé to decide whether you're a match for that role or not.

What we mean is that keywords will help us understand what you do faster. And on LinkedIn, we use keywords to find talent in the same way you use keywords to find something on Google. 

7. Avoid jargon

You never know who's going to be reading your résumé — the recruiter could be as savvy as you are, or they could just be getting started in their careers. Or, the company you're interested in might not have a recruiter at all, they may have HR or other departments reviewing résumés before they're sent over to the hiring manager.

To make your résumé more accessible, make sure that it's easy to read, and avoid jargon as much as possible. Focus on your keywords instead.

LinkedIn

1. Use your LinkedIn profile to elevate your résumé

All those things you couldn't fit on your résumé? Add them to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is not your résumé, it's so much more. Take advantage of your profile, and explain your experience and expertise in more detail. Add documents you've worked on, links to any media, press, or speaking engagements you've done, and pictures or videos of projects you've completed.

Your LinkedIn profile doesn't have to be boring either. You can use it to showcase your personality, your interests, and your values so that it's easier for companies to see if you'd be a match for each other.

2. Update your 'about me' section

Use this section to tell others everything about you — who you are, what you do, how you do it, why you do it, and what you're looking for. There's no right or wrong formula here. Don't forget to add your contact information.

3. Update your banner picture

The banner is one of the first things we notice when we open a LinkedIn profile, so why not use it to your advantage? Do you want people to read your blog? Do you want them to subscribe to your newsletter? Or showcase some of the awards you've won? Use your banner to do that.

You don't have to be a designer to do so — Canva has lots of free editable resources you can try. 

4. Your headline is your friend

Lots of people use their LinkedIn headlines to add their company and title — but what if I told you that you can use it to elevate your personal brand and make your profile easier to find and read?

Use keywords that are used often in your industry. Adding industry or role-specific words in this section will make it so much easier for recruiters and hiring managers to understand what you do in seconds. 

5. Feature your accomplishments

Add anything you're proud of to the "featured" section.

It can be a LinkedIn post that has good engagement or a presentation you've created.

6. Ask for recommendations

Recruiters don't look at recommendations — unless, of course, your profile doesn't really have any information about you and your experience. But hiring managers might. And you want to make sure they know as much as possible about you, your work style, and your experience.

If you're a freelancer this section should be gold to you. Treat this as your reviews section. Ask anyone and everyone you've worked with for recommendations. Ask them to be as thorough as possible and mention why someone else should work with you too.

7. Showcase your services

Click on "open to" right under your profile picture, and scroll down to "offering services." From there, choose the options that best match your experience, offerings, and services.