The all-new "So what?" approach for a job-winning Resume in 2020 [with Examples]

And just like that, 2019 is drawing to a close.

Sigh.

How about we don't repeat our old patterns in 2020? How about we break free from the shackles binding us and run towards the light?

How about you don't torture your beaten and defeated self into showing up for a job you hate? How about you give your self-worth a chance and actually try reaching for the stars? You know what they say - you'll at least land on the moon.

In the present job market though, you'll be fortunate if you're able to land on a broken-down satellite even halfway to the moon. Why?

Here's why:

A frequent concern I come across from mid/senior-level professionals is around the content of their resume. They have a recruiter-friendly design but they know that their resume is missing the wow factor, the punch that should make the recruiter stop and read. And even if they manage to do that, the content therein should be effective enough to engage them.

Of course, this concern isn't new. There have been different approaches over the years which professionals and students have used to boost the content in their resume - from the seemingly complex Princeton-based Action-oriented Accomplishment Statements to the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for framing resume points.

While the underlying concept is the same, we have further broken down the key idea into 2 simple words that anyone can understand and use to enhance their resume:

So what?

Most people end up blurring the line between a job description and a resume. While the JD is a responsibility-based document, the resume is achievement-oriented. Committing the mistake of merely listing down your responsibilities in a resume will make the recruiter yawn and use your resume to cover up the plate of snacks. (Yep, we have seen it happen, it really happens.)

So what do you do? We know you're a stalwart in your chosen field, but if you're not able to reflect that on paper, it's essentially a secret between you and your manager. We don't want it to be a secret, do we?

So you resort to the 2 golden words we highlighted earlier. So what?

Say you've written a vanilla responsibility-based one-liner point in your resume which a monkey could have written from a JD. What do you do?

Ask yourself: SO WHAT? Let us give you an example.

Here's a boring point with the potential to make a recruiter throw up:

Led the sales team for doing sales

What is wrong with this point? Well, where do we even begin - everything from writing 'doing sales' to excluding almost all the relevant information which can possibly be included pertaining to this point. But if there's so much to address, how do you go about rectifying that? What would be the step one?

The first step is to read this point and ask yourself - so what? Broadly speaking, keep on doing this for every point and don't stop till you have a job-winning resume in your hand. And the most wonderful part? You'll know when it has transformed from a boring document border lining on a biodata, to a job-winning resume that will level-up your professional game.

Let's go with this point and try to follow the approach we outlined above. So what if you led a team? So what if you did sales? Why should the recruiter care? Why should you care?

Stephen King was asked how he has been able to generate such a stupendous level of output over a career spanning decades. "One word at a time," was what he said, and it's so brilliantly simple and painfully profound at the same time.

The Great Wall of China - how was it built? One brick at a time.

How do you end up with a job-winning resume? One point at a time.

And why do you need it? Here's why:

While making sure that you don't exceed one line, keep on asking this simple question until you start going deeper and unearthing your actual contributions. Let's study how.

• "Led the sales team": How many people? 2? 20? 100? Specify.
• "Doing": Use power verbs. You can check out 250+ examples of action verbs you can directly incorporate in your resume.
• "Sales": Sales is just a function. Your exact role and contribution from "doing sales" is not clear. Provide figures wherever you can. Mention the sales channels you were targeting and the overall sales you generated. Mention the impact of your contribution on the overall organization - was your value limited to sales or did you indirectly impact other functions as well?

Upon answering these questions, see how the basic one-liner point has now been transformed:

Led a team of 10 sales executives to execute the sales strategy and register USD 320k in B2C sales

Get the drift? You have been transformed from a low-key sales professional to someone who provided direction and offered strategic leadership.

Pro-tip: See how the key figure/achievement is in bold? Do that in your resume. Don't overdo it though. Make sure the bold is evenly spread so it looks aesthetically pleasing.

Let's take another example:

Part of the Data Analytics team; analyzed data for cost control

This tells absolutely nothing about your contributions. Let us now take the above-mentioned approach to glean more information from just this point:

• What was your role in the Data Analytics team? How many people were there in the team?
• What algorithms, techniques, and methodologies did you deploy for this?
• What was the quantifiable impact of the same on cost reduction?
• What additional benefits accrued from your analysis besides cost control?

Try to ask similar questions along the lines of so-what for as many points as you can. This is how you transform your resume from a run-of-the-mill document to a recruiter's dream. Following a similar approach, the above point now becomes:

Analyzed data for predictive modelling & statistical analysis to streamline processes, boost efficiency by 17% and slash costs by USD 80k/month

See?

By asking the so-what question for this point in your resume itself, the recruiter won't have to. And that's the idea, really - to make the recruiter's job easier. It's not his job to dig deeper and then assess your contribution. It's your job to effectively showcase the impact of your work so it becomes easy for him to make a decision.

You can use the AI Resume Review on our online resume builder to instantly see if your points are following the so-what format or not. You can additionally use ~150 pre-filled content templates prepared by industry experts for your chosen profile to incorporate professional content in your resume.

Can't figure out how to use this approach in your resume? You can join my open group on LinkedIn where I enable peer resume review, share resume hacks, premium design/content, and more!

For anything else, feel free to leave a comment below. :)