Why Is Resume Writing So Challenging?
What can you do to make the resume-writing process easier and to craft a resume that will instantly distinguish you from other well-qualified candidates?
While there’s no formula or single template to use in crafting an resume, there are certain guidelines you can follow that will instantly help you write, format and design a resume that will showcase your greatest talents, accomplishments and value to a potential new employer. These seven “rules of the road” are applicable to all professionals, managers and executives.
1. Use a Well-Branded Headline
Of course, your resume will start with your name and contact information (phone number and live links to both your e-mail address and LinkedIn profile) prominently positioned at the top of the page. Immediately following that, include a headline statement that tells readers “who” you are professionally in regard to your current career objective. With just a quick glance, readers instantly recognize what your experience is in.
Your headline statement replaces the now outdated “Career Summary” or “Professional Profile” heading that you may have used in the past to begin the summary section of your resume. Those headings don’t communicate any information, while your headline instantly does.
After you’ve written your headline, think about adding one or two subheadings to further define your expertise. Do you have an industry specialization? Any distinguishing credentials? With just a few words, you can quickly convey relevant and valuable information about yourself that will set you apart from other candidates.
One word of caution about headlines—and, in fact, about everything that you include in your resume. Be certain that what you are highlighting matches not only what you’ve done in the past but also what you want to do in the future. This is extremely important because you want readers to perceive you as a qualified and experienced candidate for the positions you’re currently targeting.
If you have extensive experience in a certain industry or field for example, but you don’t want that to be a major part of your next job, don’t highlight it with a headline. You can mention it as appropriate in the experience section, but don’t make the mistake of drawing attention to something you don’t want readers to focus on. Be selective and be strategic.
2. Share Details About the Organizations Where You’ve Worked
Help your readers understand the depth and breadth of your experience by providing details about the organizations where you’ve worked. You can cite the number of employees, the number of locations, the total annual company revenue, the specific business or industry, and other details that will give readers a frame of reference.
No matter where you position the information, it’s valuable. Knowing where you’ve worked helps readers put everything into context and makes your experience and accomplishments all that more impressive.
Just as with your headline, be strategic. If you’ve worked only at very large public companies and now want to move to a small privately held business, the size of those companies might scare off your target employers. Think about your goals and add the details that make you a good fit for the companies, associations and/or other organizations where you want to work.
3. Emphasize Achievements
This is perhaps the most critical strategy in creating a powerful and memorable resume. Without specific achievements, your resume will sound much like that of any other professional who has similar experience.
While your knowledge and expertise are important, hiring managers want to know more. They want to know what you have done—how you have contributed to business objectives, how you have made a difference, what measurable results you have produced, how you’ve strengthened the organization, exceeded numbers, what you’ve done to improve company culture and more.
4. Highlight Keywords
You know how important keywords are for both human readers and electronic eyes scanning your resume. If you don’t include those all-important terms, you may be perceived as unqualified and your resume may be passed over. Don’t let that happen to you!
Look for opportunities to introduce keywords throughout your resume. You can create a “Core Competencies” or “Professional Skills Summary” at the top, but that’s not enough. You want keywords to be prevalent throughout every section of your resume.
5. Prepare Your Resume for Applicant Tracking Systems
Because there are so many ATSs, and because candidate searches are conducted by humans who have their own habits and preferences, you can’t guarantee a perfect result from every ATS scan. But you can—and should—follow best practices for formatting your resume, integrating keywords and increasing keyword density.
For example, acronyms should be later spelled out fully in the appropriate section of the resume. This gives you a greater chance of being found in a computerized keyword scan, regardless of the exact term the hiring manager inputs for a specific search.
6. Share What Makes You Special
Obviously, your professional experience and educational credentials are vital in positioning you as a well-qualified candidate. However, there are many other items you can—and should—include in your resume if relevant to your career. These items add further value, distinction and qualification.
Professional credentials; board of director appointments and other leadership posts; presentations and public speaking engagements; media features and quotes; and publications.
We recommend that you focus the above on professional activities and exclude common civic and/or community-based affiliations. Resume “real estate”—just one or two pages—is extremely valuable, so you want to be certain that each line of text adds strength to your candidacy.
7. Write Tight, Lean and Clean
Clean, clear, concise writing is the hallmark of a powerful and modern resume. Readers simply don’t have the time or inclination to wade through irrelevant experiences, fluffy adjectives, unnecessary details and other “filler” that weighs down many resumes.
No one writes tight, lean and clean on the first pass. It requires repeated review, careful editing, and a constant focus on strategy and goals to determine what’s important to include and what does not support your professional brand and your current career objectives.
In addition to tight writing, pay attention to how your resume is formatted. Avoid dense paragraphs (anything longer than three or four lines) and allow ample white space to create an inviting document that rewards readers, whether they come for a quick skim or a more thorough read.