The Ultimate Guide To Resumes

A resume is important to anyone who cares about their career. If you are looking for a job, you will need a resume. If you want to change careers, that’s just like looking for a job but in another industry or role, so you will still need a resume. If you want to advance in your career at the same company, you probably will need a resume because internal hiring often mirrors the general recruiting process.

That said, too many professionals overestimate what a resume can do for their job search, career change or career advancement. There are many moving parts to getting your next role, and the resume is just one of these. Therefore you want to write your resume quickly, so you have something ready and so that you can focus on the rest of your career strategy.

You can write a resume in just five steps

1. Pick a template from the many free templates available online. Just pick one and start filling in the factual information, like dates and employers, so you can see how easy it is to get started.
2. Do a data dump of the details you remember. If it’s been a while since you have updated your resume and you’re not sure how to describe your different jobs, write out complete, descriptive sentences before trying to edit it into resume format. No one thinks or writes in the short bullet points you’ll ultimately need for your resume, so don’t try to draft it this way.
3. Insert relevant keywords and phrases. Once you have a template with key information, and sentences where the details should be, then you can start refining. Look at job postings for roles that you want to get a sense for important keywords and phrases.
4. Start your bullet points with an active verb when you condense your sentences into bullet points. Avoid general actions, such as contribute or assist. These verbs just say that you were there but don’t describe what you did (e.g., research, analyze, design, etc).
5. Describe your job using quantifiable results and substantive responsibilities, rather than general tasks. You want to show how you contributed in each role.

Once you have your draft, get feedback on it. Do readers understand what you did? Are they interested in learning more – i.e., interviewing you? Are the things you wanted to highlight the same things that readers notice?

Remember that recruiters skim the resume in seconds

Relevant keywords, quantifiable results and substantive responsibilities are all important, and they all need to be digestible quickly. Recruiters spend just seconds on a resume, so make it easy on the eyes:

• Use at least 10-point font.
• Use bold, italics and underlining for emphasis, but use these sparingly, or their differentiating power diminishes.
• Keep the structure consistent – all dates on the same side (left or right, just be consistent); companies, geographies and titles in the same place and in the same format. When similar details are in the same place, the eye recognizes there’s a pattern and can easily jump around.
• Resist the urge to crowd in too many details. White space and margins actually help the information you do include easier to read.

Use brand names and other recognition filters to stand out

One way that recruiters skim is by looking for brand names or other recognizable filters – e.g., Fortune 500 employers, Ivy League schools, marketable certifications and licenses, such as the PMP or CPA. Make sure any brands receive prominent position in your resume – I would highlight them in your Summary.

However, even if you don’t have recognizable brands on your resume, you can still help readers gain familiarity quickly and therefore boost your chances:

• Include brand names or qualifying phrases (e.g., Fortune 500) in your job descriptions if your work involves clients who are Fortune 500 or name brands. For example, I had a client who worked at a small organization as a front-line fundraiser. Her employer wasn’t a name, but her work involved a portfolio of billionaire donors. The high net worth and high visibility of her clients boosted the value of her role.
• Write a short description of your company or school, if it is a leader in its field but just not a brand name. I coached an Asian ex-pat who relocated to the US for family reasons and was an executive in the textile industry. Can you name the largest Asian textile companies? Can you name any textile companies? Me neither. So this executive mentioned under her company name that this otherwise unknown brand name was a subsidiary of a Global 500 company and the largest in its industry for her country.
• Raise your visibility with speaking, writing or leadership positions outside of work. The competition filter – if you’re good enough for [insert Brand Name here] then you’re good enough for us – isn’t limited to employers and education. If you have been cited by brand-name media or published in an industry blog or trade journal, or have presented at a professional conference, then you have passed an equally competitive filter. Highlight this in your Summary of Qualifications at the top of your resume.

Avoid exaggerating or underselling on your resume

While name-dropping with brands is good a resume, you are not putting style over substance. A resume is a factual document. In fact, it can serve as the outline to a background check. Your employer may check dates of employment, titles of previous jobs, academic degrees received and dates of school attendance as you list them on your resume. So you should assume that everything that can be verified will be verified, and take special care to be 100% accurate here.

However, a resume is not 100% objective when it is descriptive — the scope of your responsibilities, your contribution to a result, or even the measure of a specific result (did revenues actually double or almost double, say a 90% increase?). To ensure you don’t exaggerate or undersell yourself on your resume, follow three guidelines:

1. Show clear examples. If HTML programming is listed in your Skills section, include a reference to it in the job where you used it most substantively. If you claim a responsibility, such as management, specify the size of the team or the budget or the project scope that you managed. If you claim a result, such as increasing revenue or decreasing costs, include a specify percentage or dollar amount, only if you know it, and explain how you got that result.
2. Use specific descriptions over generic titles, such as Head of Development v. Director of Development. For example, I once interviewed a non-profit candidate who listed no title at her current job though her role as lead fundraiser was commensurate with a Director of Development. She was factually correct to omit the title – had she put Director of Development and I called her HR office to verify, it would show as a mismatch. But she was underselling herself because her lack of title could lead other resume readers to gloss over her substantive accomplishments. In this case, use a very specific description in lieu of a generic title: Head of Development; Development Lead; or sole Development staff for $500k fundraising goal. You steer clear of a title you don’t formally have but you still capture the responsibilities and accomplishments that you rightfully earned.
3. Line up your supporting references and samples. Another check and balance against resume inflation (or underselling) is to collect references and samples that back up your claims. If you want to list Director as your title, verify with HR that they will confirm this exact title in reference checks. If not, but you did lead a team, project, or some other substantive body of work, then line up a senior person in the department who can describe your contributions and confirm you accomplished what you said you did.

You do not need to hire a professional resume writer

With all the nuances of a resume (even though section 1 is how you can quickly draft your own resume!), you might be tempted to just give it up to a professional resume writer. Keep in mind that the cost can run several hundred dollars and UP. That money can be spent on coffee dates for networking or joining a professional association or covering your daily expenses so you don’t have to settle for the very next job.

In addition to the money, there is also your time. A resume writer may not save as much time as you think. You still need to vet whoever you hire, checking their past work and taking references (both of which take time). You still need to work with them closely to impart what you did and what you’re targeting. You will also need to update your resume as you develop skills and gain new experience, so eventually you will need to be hands-on with your resume anyway.

Even a strong resume might not be enough get you an interview

Another reason why you don’t want to hire a professional resume writer is that it won’t necessarily solve your job search woes. If you are submitting your resume and not getting called in, it might not be that your resume is lacking. Your resume might not even be seen.

A job can be posted, but the company still might not look at resumes that are submitted. They might not need unsolicited resumes to find candidates. The job posting could just be a formality to superficially show that the company is hiring, but the company might already have candidates on the shortlist:

• Existing candidates from previous openings. As a recruiter, I always kept a pipeline of favorite candidates that I discovered from other searches
• Employee referrals
• Internal candidates
• Passive candidates – these are people who network into consideration by staying in touch with key decision-makers and then are top of mind when an opening comes up

Over the 20+ years that I have been recruiting, I have noticed a trend in companies to add additional hoops to the application process before inviting job candidates for an interview. It’s not just submit a resume and get an interview anymore. Here are five things prospective employers are vetting, in addition to the resume:

1. Back-door references. Back door references are different from this reference check process, in that these references are checked before an offer is decided (sometimes even before a first interview is decided). These references are also not supplied by the candidate, but rather dug up by the employer. 
2. Work samples – e.g., website you worked on, a report you wrote or a presentation you delivered. Have something readily available upon request. More and more employers are asking for a sample of work related to the job opening at hand.
3. Skills test. Some real-life examples:  For a digital marketing job, candidates were sent two sample emails from a direct response campaign and asked to evaluate which was stronger and why. This gave a window into how they might design a direct response email. For a fundraising role, candidates were asked to write an introduction letter to a large donor asking for a meeting. For an executive role to lead a regional office, candidates were asked for a letter of intent to outline their particular interest in the organization.
4. Recorded interview. This is just what it sounds like – you are sent pre-recorded questions, which you answer, record and send back to the employer before they decide whether to bring you in.
5. Online profile. This is not just your LinkedIn profile. It also is your activity, and everything the comes up when you do an Internet search on your name – media mentions, publications, social media activity. I once saw an executive search almost derailed because an internet search brought up a controversial comment by the candidate on a common online community (think Quora or Reddit).

Yes, companies are asking for more upfront, which seems like an imposition, but you decline at your peril. I once interviewed a marketing candidate who refused to take an Excel-based marketing test that would have taken less than 15 minutes. She said she was insulted to have to take it given her years of marketing experience, but since she initially asked me to send her the test, I wonder if she didn’t think she would do well. Regardless, she didn’t move forward in the process because my client only wanted to look at candidate résumés, when it was accompanied with their marketing test score.

Don’t let editing your resume keep you from other career activities

Since the resume is just one of many career tools, don’t keep drafting and refining your resume to the exclusion of other things. Here are 5 ideas for alternatives to rewriting your resume:

1. Reaching out to your network – after all, people hire people
2. Identify a new company to target
3. Leave a practice interview response on your voicemail
4. Read a success story — and get inspired
5. Update your social profile – recruiters look at other marketing you do, not just your resume. The most relevant social platform for professionals is LinkedIn (See Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile For Your Dream Career)

In addition to your social profile, four other marketing tools to have on hand:

1. Professional-looking photo. From a practical standpoint, photos help your networking – some people won’t remember your name after having met you once or a while ago, but they might remember your face.
2. Cover letter. This is not a rehash of your resume. It enables you to highlight your most relevant and compelling facts. It helps you smooth over a story that includes employment gaps and/ or career changes. It is a chance for you to make the case for why your dream employer should hire you. (Don’t forget a shorter cover email!).
3. 20-second pitch. When you meet someone, you need to introduce yourself. What you say is part of how you market yourself. Keep in mind that your new connection ideally can introduce you to others, including possible employers. So what you say needs to be memorable and repeatable. (Don’t forget to have a 2-minute pitch for meetings when you have more time!)
4. Website and/or portfolio. Remember the importance of work samples!

As important as online tools like LinkedIn are, you will always want a resume

LinkedIn and other social media are public, and you may want to keep some work details, like sales numbers or team size private. A resume, which you distribute sparingly, can do that best. Keep broad details on LinkedIn so your dream employer learns enough to be interested, and then follow up with a more detailed resume.

You can only have one LinkedIn profile, but you can tailor your resume to different industries, roles or even employers. There is a tradeoff, of course, between juggling so many versions of your resume and the incremental benefit from tailoring each one, but if you decide to tailor, you can do that with a resume much more finely than with anything publicly online.

Finally, your resume is yours, not hosted on a platform, such as LinkedIn, which is charging for more and more features. You want to take advantage of as many tools as you can. Don’t over-rely on your resume, but certainly don’t neglect it.