SINGAPORE - Here's what a Workforce Singapore career coach says:

A resume is a space for you to communicate your story and it is the employer's first impression of you. Whether you are applying for a job with or without experience, it is crucial to ensure that your resume provides what the prospective employer is looking for.

The first thing to do when you decide to apply to an industry in which you have no work experience or prior training is research the industry and the different job roles, their scopes and the skills that are required for each role.

You should also take stock of the transferable and marketable skill sets you have that will enable you to stand out from other job seekers.

This will be especially helpful when you start crafting your resumes and customising them to the role and company that you are applying to.

As a prospective newcomer to the industry, you should portray yourself as being agile and willing to learn new skills and adapt to new working environments.

Here are more resume tips from the career coach:

• As many employers use an "applicant tracking system" software to filter resumes, it is important to tailor your resume using keywords that match the job requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and abilities. Highlight these relevant skills and competencies in the top half of the first page, before listing your work experience. Exclude skills and competencies that are outdated or not relevant.

• Write a summary that gives a brief overview of your background, skills and experience. It should communicate your unique selling points and key strengths which contribute towards your professional brand. For instance: Regional operations and marketing professional with global brands for over a decade, driving go-to-market sales and successfully implementing business process design and workflow optimisation.

• Include major career achievements or accomplishments in your previous jobs and explain how you can provide a similar impact to your future employer. Major achievements can include any quantifiable effort on your part to improve the productivity, quality or efficiency of work, generate revenue, provide cost savings for the company, and streamline work processes. There is no need to list achievements that do not value-add to the job you are applying for.

• Keep your resume as short as possible - at most two pages, preferably.

• Include non-professional experiences that are relevant to the role you are applying for, such as voluntary work that may showcase your organisational and client engagement abilities. This may help you to stand out in the sea of applicants.