Three Keys to a Resume That Works

Resume writing is an art, not a science.

Everyone has a different opinion about what kind of resume works. You have to run the advice you get through your internal filter to figure out what makes sense for you and your situation.

I’m sharing what we’ve seen work with the hundreds of clients who’ve hired our career coaching team to get well-dressed for a career or job change.

Here are three fundamental perspectives to consider:

• The number one shortcoming with most resumes is that they tell the story of where you’ve been, but not the story of where you’re going. It is essential that your document demonstrate to your reader, clearly and succinctly, how what you’ve done in the past applies to what you are looking to do now as well as what they are searching for in a candidate.

• Your resume is:

1) what you stand for;

2) what lights you up;

3) your past accomplishments and;

4) what the market is looking for.

If you leave any of these pieces out, you do not have a compelling statement/personal brand and may need to do some research and introspection.

• If you take the time to craft your master resume you should not have to tweak it much from one application to another. Bottom line, the resume tells the story of what you are here to contribute. You may dress it up slightly to add keywords for a particular role, but fundamentally it should be a solid base. If you are doing more than a 10-20% revision for each position you are applying for, you need to be more intentional in your crafting of your master document to reflect what you really want, what you bring to the table, and what you’ve accomplished.

In a future post I’ll share more on what our coaching and resume writing team believes are best practices for resume and LinkedIn profiles.

If you have questions or would like to explore working with our team to craft your best resume, contact us—we are eager to help!