5 Quick Resume Tips

Trim it down. You’ve probably heard it before; yet time and time again I see this come up. Take a hard look and trim the excess. Think of the page as real estate, every square inch matters and should show value - no fluff. In 5-10% of cases where someone is making a significant career shift and has relevant history to share - 2 pages may suffice. Chances are, that’s not the case and you likely have room to trim.

Break it down to the ridiculous. Avoid abbreviations or terminology that may be niche to a particular industry and unknown to the hiring team. Don’t make assumptions - keep it simple and easy to interpret.

Start the sentence with a verb or adverb. This shares what you’ve done in a way that displays impact. This also shows effort and thoughtfulness.

Examples - proactively, drove, maintained, exceeded, delivered

Button it up. Always get a second set of eyes to proof read for spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors. Hiring managers often prefer candidates who have strong attention to detail - this is your first test. There are also free tools you can leverage such as Grammarly.

This is the time to humble brag. I find that most people have difficulty hyping up their accomplishments - for most of us this doesn’t come naturally. Leadership roles, recognition for going above/beyond, reaching goals - make it known! Going back to tip two - don’t assume the reader understands the gravity of the award, context and brief descriptions help.

Anything you would add? Drop me a note in the contact section. I’d love to hear your feedback.