While a resume is just a conversation starter, it must make your reader fall in love with you in just 6 seconds. Crazy, right?
Focusing on the first-impressions, heavy hitters, and wow statements, like these below, are proven to work – and increase your chances of getting hired faster.
When updating your location on the resume or CV, there’s a couple things to note. Take off your exact living/mailing address because employers don’t need or care for that anymore. So feel free to include your “city” but that’s it. Also remove frivolous words like “email” and “address” because the data should tell the reader what it is. Before adding whatever city you’re currently living in (whether that’s Scranton, PA, Pasadena, CA or Los Angeles, CA), think 3 steps ahead: where do you want to end up? What larger metropolitan area is your city within? The more competitive your city is, the more appealing you become to employers, recruiters and hiring managers.
Instead of Pasadena, CA or Plains, NY, try ... Los Angeles, CA or New York City, NY
When updating your location on the resume or CV, there’s a couple things to note. Take off your exact living/mailing address because employers don’t need or care for that anymore. So feel free to include your “city” but that’s it. Also remove frivolous words like “email” and “address” because the data should tell the reader what it is. Before adding whatever city you’re currently living in (whether that’s Scranton, PA, Pasadena, CA or Los Angeles, CA), think 3 steps ahead: where do you want to end up? What larger metropolitan area is your city within? The more competitive your city is, the more appealing you become to employers, recruiters and hiring managers.
Instead of a traditional resume, opt for ... A hybrid one that shows your strengths
Add any social networks, digital platforms, websites, portfolios or other information that shows more about you.
Add more than just your phone & email .. Add your LinkedIn, Instagram, Website, Published Accomplishment, and more
That rule where you have number of pages per your years of experience, like 1 page for every 5 years of experience? Overrated and no longer the standard. Let your resume length be flexible and long enough to fit everything you need, but short enough to be brief and get to the point. For every word, sentence and section, just ask yourself “what purpose does this serve? why should someone care? and does this wow me?”
Instead of over-focusing on # of pages, ... Focus on including all possible sections, strongest work first, & outcomes over functions. (then page # takes care of itself!)
One of the biggest – and rewarding – impacts you can make to your entire resume is this one. The key here is to flip most, if not all, bullet statements under each of your work experiences from function to outcome. So instead of “worked for creative team producing Amazon content that sold blenders,” the better impression to make is “helped sell blenders on Amazon.com by producing interactive content on creative team.” By simply reversing the language you would normally put in your bullet, your impact hits the reader in the face with the wow factor.
Instead of jotting down a laundry list of functions "wrote this and did that" ... Lead with outcomes first "helped increase this and boosted that"
Titles on your resumes are like 30-second elevator moments you have with a potential future employer. They see it, have a second to skip you or keep going, and for an impression of you. So this is your first impression. For your next title, instead of saying “media planner,” or “writer,” or “senior advertising professional,” turn it into a verb-based title. For example, “marketing writer turned creative director,” or “classically trained engineer building skyscrapers.”
Instead of putting "writer or engineer" Make it action-oriented and impactful "Writer-turned-Marketing Storyteller" or "Engineer Building City Skyscapers"
This section is typically called “highlights,” “career summary” or “qualifications,” so it needs to portray all your best experience in a nutshell. Ideally it should be about half a page or less in length and include a couple sentences and/or a couple bullets about your soft and hard experience.
Instead of the short usual qualifications section with generic info anyone can write ... Include a combo of outcome-based sentences, bullets and visual/charts
This section really is underrated, underused and underplayed. It should be packed with hard skills like “Adobe Creative Suite” or “Excel”, as well as soft skills like “Media Relations,” or “Writing”. It should also be inspired by your bulleted outcome statements from your work experience. For instance, Excel was the platform where you managed millions of client budgets annually. Lastly, it should be on the first page of your resume – or above the fold on your one-page resume.
Instead of only listing typing & technical platforms, like Microsoft Word and Salesforce, ... Include skills from every functional area, i.e. media relations, copywriting, storyboarding, oil drilling, etc.
Use what you’ve done already so you don’t have to recreate the wheel. Every change you’ve made here can absolutely be leveraged on your LinkedIn, About.Me, Instagram, and more. Use the same language, quick wins, outcome bullets and added accomplishments on your other platforms. The more you do this, the more consistent story you tell across your channels, and the more eyes you get on your work and accomplishments.
Instead of only listing typing & technical platforms, i.e. Microsoft Word & Salesforce, ... Include skills from every functional area, i.e. media relations, copywriting, storyboarding, oil drilling, etc.
Don’t be afraid to show your extracurriculars, groups, affiliations, accomplishments, achievements and awards beyond your work. More and more employers look for well-rounded candidates who have hard and soft skills, solid work experience and an outside passion, hobby and activity. For any achievement with a date, use the format of Date | Accomplishment | Detail.
