You Can Always Make Your Resume Better
7 in-depth tips & tricks to transform your resume
Hey there!
Welcome to the first email of this newsletter! There is no better place to start than with the best topic of all time. The art of creating a resume. I use the phrase “art” because resume building is just that, an art. There is no exact science to creating the perfect resume, it is all about describing yourself as an individual so that employers know how great you really are! All it takes is a little elbow grease and your free-flowing ideas. I am going to give you some tips in this email that I’ve learned from sitting down with people that work with Microsoft, Amazon, and ServiceNow to give you the inside scoop on what they look for when examining a resume. Let me tell you right now, it is not what you think.
Tip #1: The Clock is Ticking
You have less than 15 seconds to grab a recruiter’s attention. If you were in front of a recruiter, how would you pitch yourself so that they keep listening? That is exactly what you need to do with the wording on your resume. When reviewing your resume, decide what the most important thing you would want the employer to know when they start looking it over.
Tip #2: Give Yourself a Pat on the Back
You probably aren’t giving yourself enough credit! Your resume is where you can show off how awesome you are. Remember when you were applying to college? You probably wrote all about what you did throughout high school to get into those colleges. Now it is time to do it again with your resume.
Tip #3: Focus on College
Do not put your high school education on your resume. If you are in college, then everyone knows you had to complete high school to get there. Having your high school education on your resume takes up space that you could be using to describe previous work experience and/or adding in certifications you’ve received on the side while in college.
Tip #4: Personal Statements Show the Human Behind the Resume
A powerful way to stand out is to have a personal statement. This section should cover who you are and what you want to do in the long term; short and sweet. You can keep this section general because it is not about crafting this section to each job, but instead crafting it for the recruiter so they can briefly get to know you before even meeting you. Examples of characteristics you could write include:
-Passionate and energetic
-Team player with creativity
-Communicator and trusted
-Customer and results-driven
Tip #5: Stick to Relevance
Chronology isn’t as important as relevance in college. If you are looking for internships or jobs in marketing, then put your work history in order of relevance to the field of marketing. For example, if you worked at McDonald’s this past summer, but the previous summer you had a marketing internship, then put the marketing internship above the McDonald’s. In college they look for relevance first, they can piece together which jobs you had in what order, so your job is to first show what you have done that would most benefit them. This goes back to my 15-second rule in Tip #1, if they see a marketing internship before McDonald’s, there is a good chance that the marketing recruiter will keep reading!
Tip #6: How & What
When writing a description for each of your previous jobs, make sure it isn’t a description of the job title. Instead, the description needs to focus on HOW you succeeded in that role, and WHAT you learned from that role, and WHICH skills you were able to foster and develop. This is equally the most important and the most difficult aspect to accomplish on a resume. Recruiters want to see how YOU were able to succeed at a company, so it’s important to take time on this.
Tip #7: Skills Sections Help you Stand Out
It is 2020, everyone is (or at least should be) proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite. When adding a “skills section” to your resume, don’t waste space by listing very basic skills. Instead, write soft and hard skills you have learned. Soft skills are traits that make you a great employee, and hard skills are measurable abilities. If you learned how to be adaptable at your previous job, list that under skills. If during your previous work you have learned more about video production, put that under your skills. See how much better those skills appear than listing something as common as Microsoft Word? It is all about standing out from the hundreds of resumes a recruiter will read in a week.
As we approach the end of this email, I have provided a list from LinkedIn Learning that goes into: The Skills Companies Need Most in 2020
Top 5 Soft Skills
1. Creativity
2. Persuasion
3. Collaboration
4. Adaptability
5. Emotional Intelligence
Top 10 Hard Skills
1. Blockchain
2. Cloud Computing
3. Analytical Reasoning
4. UX Design
5. Business Analysis
6. Affiliate Marketing
7. Sales
8. Artificial Intelligence
9. Scientific Computing
10. Video Production
I hope everyone enjoys the first issue of the newsletter! Please leave a comment about what topics you’d love to learn more about or your thoughts on the newsletter. Feel free to share my newsletter as well with anyone you think could find value in this. I appreciate all the support from all of you subscribing since the beginning!
