Resume Success Formula: Create a Resume That Gets Results

In this lesson, let's get really clear about what your goal is when you write your resume. Remember, you're not writing the resume for yourself - you're writing it for a hiring professional (Recruiter, HR Professional, or Hiring Manager). In this lesson, we'll get clear about what the goal of a resume is and what you should remember as you write your own resume.

What Hiring Professionals Want to See

In this lesson, I'll share firsthand, insider knowledge of what Hiring Professionals want to see in a resume. Remember, a Hiring Professional (Recruiter, HR Professional, or Hiring Manager) is the person you want to impress with your resume. Keeping this target audience in mind, your goal is to create a resume that is aligned with what they want, so they'll call you for an interview.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are human resources software designed to streamline the hiring process for companies. With hundreds of job applicants for every opening, it's impossible for recruiters to read through every application.

ATS ranks your resume based on how well it matches the job description.

In this video, I talk about why ATS is important and the absolute basics of what you need to know when writing your resume.

What is a Resume Target?

In this lesson, you'll learn what a resume target is and why you need one before you start writing your resume. Although developing your Resume Target & Plan can be time-consuming, this is the most important step you need to take in the resume writing process. Once you have a clear idea of what you want and what's required, it will be easy to write a resume that impresses a hiring professional and lands you interviews.

Why do you need a clear resume target?

• You need to understand clearly what the hiring professional is looking for and what the role requirements are in order to write a resume that's effective.

• Resumes written by those who are unsure of what they want tend to be unfocused and scattered. This is not what a recruiter wants to see.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to complete the remainder of the Resume Target & Plan Exercise: your Resume Plan!

Once you've defined a resume target, you need to create a plan to convince a hiring professional that you can do the job. To do that, we need to do more research into the job postings that you're interested in and would like to apply for.

3 Steps to Researching Job Postings

In this lesson, you'll learn how to research and review job postings in order to create your resume plan. This will involve, reviewing job postings in detail and identifying relevant keywords for the posting. You'll learn about the three main sections that generally appear in a job posting. Remember - the qualifications in a job posting are what employers want in an ideal scenario. Keep in mind you don't have to have everything. Generally, if you have around 75% of what's required - you should apply!

In this lecture, learn how I reviewed multiple job descriptions to complete Steps 1-4 of the exercise for a client. You can download the Example Resume and the Example Resume Target + Plan in the Resources section.

You'll really only need to watch this lesson if you think you MAY need to create two versions of your resume.

If you've created your Resume Target + Plan, and feel that you're clearly focused on a resume target, you most likely don't need to watch this lesson.

You should watch this video If either of the following applies to you AFTER you've worked through your Resume Target + Plan:

• You've learned that you're interested in pursuing more than one type of role, i.e. Project Manager & Trainer, Operations Manager & Human Resources Manager, Sales & Design Engineer, etc.

• When completing the keywords section of the Resume Target + Plan, you noticed that the job descriptions and keywords between roles are quite different.

When it comes to resume format, we want to use a format that will be visually appealing and readable to your target – the hiring professional – while still being compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems as discussed in the first lesson

In this lesson, I'll provide you with an overview of each section of the resume and the templates you'll be choosing from, so you can select the template you want to use!

The top third of the resume is where you’ll grab the reader’s attention. This is the first place the reader will look, so you need to be strategic. You need to make sure everything in this section is relevant to the job, so your reader KEEPS reading.

Remember that hiring professionals are quickly scanning resumes for relevant content – and might only be looking for a few seconds. If yours doesn’t look relevant right away, they might be moving on to the next resume.

This is where we put your plan into action – you want to write this summary to portray yourself as closely as possible to the description you created. You also want to touch on the three main themes of the resume here.

There are 3 main sections in the top third:

• Headline/Title

• Summary

• Core Competencies

In this video, you'll learn what I think is (and is not working) with the top third examples I provided you in the Resume Critique Exercise.

Earlier, you answered these 3 questions about each of the sample resumes:

1. After reading the top third of this resume, what type of job do you think the person wants to apply for?

2. What do you think is working & not working with the top third of this resume?

3. What would you do to improve the top third of this resume?

Compare your answers to each example in the video & think about the following questions:

• Were you able to identify what type of job the person wanted to apply for?

• Were you right about what was not working?

• Finally, do you agree that the edited resumes were an improvement and why?

You can download and review the improved versions of the resumes as resources.

What Your Professional Experience Section Should Look Like

Think of it this way: the top third is written to get the employer's attention, while the professional experience section is written to prove you can do the job.

From a hiring professional's point of view, they're looking to see if they can find candidates who match the job posting. This doesn't mean that the candidates need to meet all the requirements of the posting, though. You need to write a professional experience section that demonstrates that you have similar experience to the skills and responsibilities listed in the job posting – so the hiring professional reading the resume becomes confident that you can do the job and calls you for an interview.

Experience Section Tips

• Don’t copy the job description exactly. You need to describe your own experience in a way that’s relevant to the posting, not copy what’s there.

• Be honest about your experience. If you don’t have all of the relevant experience, try to describe your experience in a way that’s relevant to the posting.

• Include a high-level overview of each role (typically at the top) and then list Achievements as bullet points for each role.

Let's talk about writing achievements!

Coming up with achievements and writing them can be one of the most challenging parts of writing your resume.

Often people run into these challenges when writing their achievements:

• Don't feel like they have any achievements

• Have trouble identifying their achievements

• Don't know how to present their achievements on their resume

• Feel insecure bragging about their past achievements

I've worked with hundreds of people who felt like they didn't have any achievements, so let's get started now and start adding your achievements to your resume!

In this lesson, let's look at how I wrote achievements for four different clients working in a variety of industries and occupations. If you'd like, you can download copies of the fixed resumes, so you can view them in more detail.

Example #1 - Unspecific Achievements Without Results

In this example, the achievements were not specific enough or clear. Using the Problem, Solution, & Results framework, we were able to include more details and, most importantly, emphasize the impact of her work on the company in order to create impressive achievements for her resume!

If you'd like a closer look, download the fixed version of the resume in the Resources section.

Example #2 - Achievements Too Complex

This client's achievements were way too complicated. Written with a lot of technical jargon and a ton of detail, the reader's first inclination will be to stop reading altogether. Using the Problem, Solution, & Results framework - I was able to zero in on the problem my client was solving and the impact his solutions were having on the organization - in order to write interesting and engaging achievements to impress a hiring professional!

If you'd like a closer look,  download the fixed version of the resume in the Resources section.

Example #3 - No Results

This client's achievements didn't include any results, so the resume didn't read well. It was difficult to understand the value he had delivered in his previous roles. Zeroing in on the results of his efforts truly showed off his skills, knowledge, and abilities.

If you'd like a closer look,  download the fixed version of the resume in the Resources section.

Example #4 - Achievements With the Wrong Kind of Details

This client's resume got into the details, but it wasn't necessarily the right kind of detail. Focusing on what's most important to hiring professionals along with describing achievements and results that show you have the skills required for the job, will ensure that your resume stands out.

There are a few factors that can influence how the Education section of your resume will appear, which include:

Level of Education

If you've completed a lot of education, it will make sense to focus on this section.

How Recently You Completed Your Education

If you completed your education a number of years ago, and you've been focused on building experience and progressing in your career, your education section might not be that important.

However, if you've recently gone back to school or you've continued to complete professional development training and upgrading courses, it might be very important to focus on.

Next, you'll learn about examples of how different Education sections may look depending on various factors.

Optional: If you'd like to, you can download the example resumes to review in detail from the resources section.

In this lesson, I'll go over some of the extra resume sections you might need in your resume. The sections include:

• Technical Skills

• Additional Experience

• Professional Development

• Languages

• Interests

Learn how to write a cover letter tailored to the job posting that will ensure you stand out!

- What employers look for in a cover letter

- Format I recommend using for a cover letter

- Easy ways to customize the cover letter for different roles

- If you're changing careers or have an employment gap, you might want to add some extra content to your cover letter. Check out these examples!

My Resume Editing Tips

Editing is an important part of the resume writing process. Your resume is not going to come out perfect instantly. It’s going to take a bit of trial and error to see what really works. Trust me, I've written hundreds of resumes! So don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re feeling stuck or jaded at any point during the process – it’s totally normal.

Tip #1: Just Starting Writing... Your First Draft

Tip #2: Give Yourself Time & Space

Tip #3: Check for Frequently Used Words & Use a Thesaurus

Tip #4: Remember Your Grammar

Writing a resume when you're planning to change careers isn't easy. It can be difficult to know where to start and if you even have the right skills & experience for the role you're interested in. Learn how to effectively write a career change resume in this video.

Example #1: University Instructor to Environmental Technician.

This example describes the case of a client who successfully transitioned from a career as a university instructor to a career in the environment. When the resume was created, he was pursuing roles such as environmental technician, biological technician, park ranger, and other similar positions. In this resume, we needed to shift the focus to all of his relevant skills and knowledge in the environmental field, while decreasing the focus on his most recent experience.

Example 2: Retail to Administrative Assistant

This client wanted to shift her career from retail to administration. When talking about her most recent role in retail, it became obvious that she'd done a lot more than just customer service and that the experience was relevant to administration, too. In the most recent role on her resume, we focused on administrative responsibilities such as data entry, maintaining office supplies, troubleshooting, and printing store signage/displays, to help her land her first role in administration.

Example 3: Photographer to Sales/Business Development

This client had worked as a self-employed photographer for seven years and was hoping to transition into Sales & Business Development. He had some relevant experience in sales, but this was quite a while ago. Focusing only on his sales/business development experience within his photography business, we were able to keep the focus on his relevant skills and abilities to help him successfully make the transition.

Writing your resume with a gap in employment can be stressful and challenging. You might already be dealing with significant challenges to be out of work, and explaining it on a resume can make it even tougher. Learn how to overcome the challenges below in this video.

Challenges

• Avoiding any negative perceptions hiring professionals may have. Hiring professionals like to see solid work histories without any potential problems.

• Hiring professionals wonder why you've been unemployed and unfortunately start thinking of negative reasons (is it a lack of work ethic? are you difficult to work with? do you get bored and quit jobs? etc.)

This client was laid off from a workplace she'd been at for 13 years. After leaving, she wanted to transition into a new career as an Administrative Assistant and enrolled in a post-secondary program. Her employment gap can be "filled" with her education which justifies the lack of work experience and makes her look very productive since leaving her last employer.