The Roadmap to a Winning Resume

Looking for a job can be stressful and frustrating, which may make it difficult to find the motivation to put together a well-crafted resume You may be the strongest candidate on the market & have unbelievable soft skills. But if you’re never able to get to the interview stage with a bad resume, what does it matter. It won’t matter how many positions you apply to… if your resume is not put together to showcase the best version of you…. the interviews won’t come.

The only purpose & I mean the ONLY purpose of your professional resume is to get you to an interview.

Creating a solid foundation for your resume makes it easy to edit as you go along. It's essential to make minor adjustments to customize your resume for each job you apply for. Personalizing your resume to the position you're applying for can help you stand out from the crowded applicant pool in today's competitive job market. To position yourself effectively, you need to stand out in the right way. Avoid using crazy fonts and colors that make your resume look like a coloring book. As we go through structuring a perfect resume, we'll dive more into this topic.

Resume Order

Although there is no right or wrong order for a resume, genuinely structuring your resume in this order will give you great results.

• Contact Information

• Professional Summary

• Work Experience

• Education/Certification

• Skills (I suggest at the end, I explain later in newsletter)

Resume Format

Keep your resume simplistic, there is absolutely no reason for your resume to look like a coloring book. Keep your resume black and white, 1-2 fonts, no tables, & no headshot. Simple-Detailed-Concise

1. Personal Contact Information

In this section, you need to include your full legal name, phone number, email, and the city and state you currently reside in. That's all the information you need to provide, and there's no need to include your full address.

However, it's essential to include your city and state because many recruiters search for candidates based on location, typically within a 50-mile radius of the company's location. Therefore, it's crucial to choose your location wisely. It's rare for recruiters to search outside of a 50-mile radius from the position's location.

2. Professional Summary

This might be the most important section of your resume. Your first two sentences need to convince the reader to continue reading. Recruiters and Hiring manager will often skim, so if you don’t catch their attention right away…they may not skim for long. This is your chance to be different from your competition, to stand out, & make a great first impression. You should be rewriting this section for every position you apply for. Making sure to highlight your skills that will have the biggest impact to the position.

You should be summarizing your career goals, skill and achievements that will provide the most value to the position you are applying for.

• Keep it concise.

• Customized to the job you're applying for

• Find the most important skill for the role & stat the years of experience you have with that skill.

• Use Strong Key Words from the Job Description

• Find a unique way to sell your skills.

• Be Specific, do not fill this summary with filler information (Great work ethic, team player, great leader, etc.)

Find a way to stand out from the crowd be creative and make it unique.

3. Work Experience -It’s time to sell yourself!

Focus on highlighting your skills using SEO-optimized keywords relevant to your industry. Don't assume that what you consider a common skill or software is universally recognized. Get as detailed as possible, including keywords from both your industry and the job you're applying for. Your first 3-4 bullet points should be directly related to the skills required for the position. The most critical aspect is to back up your experience with specific examples and numerical figures to showcase your expertise and demonstrate why you're the best candidate for the job.

• Use bullet points to list your experience. 

  • This will improve the readability & make it easier for recruiter and hiring teams to scan your resume.

• Start from your most recent position & work backwards.

  • Believe it or not, some do the opposite.

• Map out the most important skill required in the Job Description

  • Focus your bullets points on these skills first.

  • The required skills for the role should be in the top 3-4 bullet points for each position you have held.

• Quantify your achievements

  • Whenever possible, use numbers and statistics to quantify your accomplishments. This makes it easier for the recruiter to understand the impact of your work. For example, "Increased sales revenue by 20% in Q3 2021" or "Managed a team of 10 employees and reduced customer complaints by 50%".

• Keep each section concise & detailed

  • Do not add bullets points on how hard your work or how great you work in a team.

  • If you managed a team, how many people did you manage, how did you manage and what was the outcome of the project.

  • You soft skills will be brought to light during the interview process. There is no need to have them on your resume.

• Include achievement, not just your day-to-day job duties

  • Back them up with statistics if you can (Number figures)

4. Education

Simple & to the point nothing fancy here.

• Start with your most recent degree and work backwards.

  • There is no need to add graduation date unless you want to

• Mention academic honors.

  • If you have received any academic honors or awards, such as Dean's List or Phi Beta Kappa, be sure to include them in this section. This can demonstrate your academic excellence and dedication to your studies.

• Provide details on relevant certifications.

  • If you have relevant certifications or licenses, include them in this section. This can demonstrate your expertise and qualifications for the job.

Example:

• Master of Business Administration, Marketing XYZ University, 2020-2022

• Bachelor of Science, Marketing ABC University, 2016-2020 Relevant coursework: Marketing Research, Digital Marketing, Consumer Behavior

• Scrum Master Certification 2022

• Phi Beta Kappa Member ← (not sure if member is the right terminology)

5. Skills

This section typically includes a list of skills that you have acquired through education, training, or work experience. This section is mainly to add buzz words so your resume can be found. Recruiters use Boolean search strings to find resumes, which essentially is a keyword search. Having this section at the start of your resume can tend to make your resume look cluttered. Remember you need to keep the reader engaged to want to take a deep dive into your resume. Here are some tips for writing a strong skill section.

• Tailor your skills to the job

  • Review the job description carefully and tailor your skills section to highlight the skills that are most relevant to the job. This demonstrates that you understand the job requirements and have the skills necessary to perform the job effectively.

• Organize your skills

  • Organize your skills into categories such as technical skills, soft skills, and industry-specific skills. This makes it easier for the recruiter to scan your resume and quickly see your areas of expertise.

• Use keywords

  • Use keywords that are relevant to the job and industry in your skills section. This can improve your chances of getting past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and being noticed by the recruiter.

• Be specific

  • Be specific about your skills and avoid using generic or vague terms. For example, instead of saying "communication skills", say "strong written and verbal communication skills" or "ability to deliver presentations to large audiences".

• Keep it concise

  • Like the other sections of your resume, be sure to keep your skills section concise and to the point. List only the skills that are relevant to the job and that you can demonstrate with examples.

Example:

• Technical skills: Adobe Creative Suite, Google Analytics, SEO, SEM

• Soft skills: Excellent communication skills, Strong leadership skills, Teamwork and collaboration

• Industry-specific skills: Brand management, social media marketing, Product launch strategy

Thank You for reading, to show my appreciation, for a limited time I have two free downloads to help you on your job search. 

Free Job Search & Recruitment Resources

• 8 Step Guide to Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile… 32-page E-Book.

• 30 Common Interview Questions & How to Structure Your Answer

Click Link Below!

If you do not feel comfortable downloading, connect with me on LinkedIn & I will email them to you.