Give Your Resumé a Boost
I have gotten tons of reach outs from people asking for help with their resumés lately. This trend is mostly due to people realizing they have options (and good ones at that) and many people looking to change things up now that life is so different for most of us. Everything has changed significantly over the last couple of years, and resumé best practices are no exception. If you are in the midst of a job search, putting feelers out there, or just want to keep your documents up to date should the right opportunity fall in your lap - keep reading!
Your resumé should not be the old traditional chronicling of past job experiences, educational history, and bulleted lists of skills. Scratch everything you thought you knew about resumés for a second, and open your mind to a knew way of approaching this essential tool for your future job search. A resumé should be a representation of your personal brand. It should showcase your story which includes your career journey, your achievements, the qualities you possess that make you unique, and your future aspirations and goals.
Things to avoid:
Lengthy resumés. I have a hard two page max rule that I implement for my clients. For those early in their career I suggest no more than one page. This should not be a diary of everything you’ve ever done professionally, but more the cliff note version!
Too many details about past jobs. Keep your past experiences high-level and focus on the value that you provided in these roles, rather than the tactical day-to-day responsibilities.
Skip the references. Checking character and professional references is something most companies have implemented in their hiring process, so no need to take up valuable real estate with this unnecessary information.
Big uncommon words. Your resumé is not the place to show off your extensive vocabulary or industry jargon. Stick to highlighting your greatest assets and let your personality impress the reader instead.
Long URLs. Including your LinkedIn URL is good as long as you have personalized it or simple URLs for your website or portfolio are fine. Do not write out long URLs, or ones with tons of characters on the resumé. It’s better to include these via email or hyperlink the words in your document so it looks clean.
Things to try:
Impressive design. Your resumé should be both visually appealing and well written. Both of these elements are equally important, because people do judge books by their covers - fact! Incorporate color, visual elements, and quality formatting to differentiate your resumé from others and make yourself stand out.
Explain your why. People often fill their resumés with details about what they have done thus far in their career, but they rarely explain why. Try to incorporate why you're passionate about your line of work and what keeps you motivated for advancement in your field.
Value creation. Rather than listing our your responsibilities in past roles, focus on the value that you brought. The bigger picture you can paint, the better positioned you will be for job advancement rather than lateral moves. Example: Instead of saying “I was responsible for posting to various social media platforms weekly”, tell how your efforts impacted the overall business. Try “I created impactful content for our company’s social media platforms that helped build brand recognition and drive sales initiatives.”
Invest time in finalizing. Proofread. Proofread again. Then have someone else proofread for you. Typos and inaccuracies have no place in resumés so avoid them at all costs. PDF your final product and name your file something appropriate like FirstnameLastNameResume.pdf.
Your resumé should be something you are proud to send off to potential employers, but writing about yourself is a really hard skill to hone so it’s okay to ask for help. If you need help perfecting your resumé and LinkedIn profile be sure to reach out and schedule some time to discuss my services available to those looking to take their career to the next level.
