The Best 3 Pieces of Resume Advice We Can Give

One of the most frequent questions we get from people considering a job change relates to resume advice. Here are three pieces of advice that we believe are valuable.

First piece of advice: Don’t expect your resume to accomplish more than it can. Here is the bad news: your resume will never get you hired. But the good news is your resume might get you an interview and the interview can get you hired.

Second piece of advice: Become a better storyteller. A resume is a story of your work history, and you are the author. Some key elements of effective storytelling are related to plot, characters, setting, and resolving tension.

• Plot: Understanding that a plot weaves a sequence of events into a cohesive story, it's crucial to frame your work history in a similar manner. Your career narrative should naturally progress towards a clear and compelling conclusion.
• Characters: As the protagonist of your story, it is important to show growth and stability throughout the story, providing a sense of development and accomplishment.
• Setting: This is about providing context, the time and place where the story unfolds. Good context adds richness and depth.
• Resolving Tension: Selected accomplishments are essential to driving the plot. They create interest and relevance in the story.

It is important to understand that your readers (hiring managers) tend to favor the least risky options in their decisions. Therefore, it is essential to articulate how your professional experiences seamlessly connect and apply to the job at hand, presenting a logical and compelling case for why you are an obvious candidate to consider for the role.

Third piece of advice: Be concise yet complete. The number of resume pages is not as important as being both concise and complete. Twenty years of work history summed up in one page may be concise, but it surely won’t be complete. On the other hand, a new graduate with a three-page resume might be complete, but surely not concise. Being concise yet complete requires forethought, enough content, and judgement. Knowing the destination allows you to select the right responsibilities and accomplishments. It is better to have too much content on your resume workbench when you start because it allows you prioritize your best and most relevant examples, fitting your storyline. Once the right responsibilities and accomplishments have been selected, using a critical eye to refine them for impact is critical. As an example, responsibilities that included having a budget of $5M doesn’t mean you were any good at it. That might provide some context for scale and scope, but it is not as compelling as incorporating that detail in a selected accomplishment. In accomplishments, it is best to identify the problem, the outcome, and metrics that demonstrated it was resolved.

In summary: These are three pivotal pieces of advice for those considering a job change and looking to improve their resumes. Firstly, it’s important to understand that a resume’s primary role is to secure an interview, not the job itself. Secondly, effective storytelling in a resume is crucial; this includes crafting a compelling plot (your work history), presenting yourself as a dynamic protagonist (character), providing rich context (setting), and showcasing how you’ve resolved professional challenges (resolving tension).

These elements together help to make a persuasive case for hiring managers, who typically prefer low-risk candidates. Lastly, the balance of being concise yet complete is essential. A well-crafted resume should include enough detail to be comprehensive but be succinct enough to maintain the reader's interest. This involves careful selection and presentation of responsibilities and accomplishments, emphasizing not just the scale of your tasks but the tangible outcomes and impact of your actions. This strategic approach ensures that your resume stands out, aligning perfectly with the storyline of your career and the role you're aspiring to.