Fifteen hundred and sixty-three
In the past four years, I estimate that I’ve looked at approximately fifteen hundred and sixty-three resumes. That’s a lot of resumes. Whenever possible, I make recommendations to candidate about their resumes. Not always, but as often as I can.
For example - I think that everything you have done in your professional life is important and when woven together tells the story of your career. I want to see it all on your resume. That does not mean you should waste a paragraph or even a full line describing the types of coffee you learned to create as a Barista when you were still in college working at Starbucks, or even that you should go into too much detail about your pertinent work information. Writing a concise resume while including all you’ve done and accomplished in your professional career is not an easy thing to do.
Below are my top ten tips for great resume writing:
1. Make sure your resume is clear, succinct, and readable
a. I prefer a chronological resume, with your most current role on top
b. Don’t go on too long in any section
c. Chose a simple font – and use a large enough font size so people over 50 can read it! I know that’s an “OK Boomer” comment, but truly, if you want hiring officers to be able to read your resume, make it readable for all ages.
2. Use bullet points, not long sentences
a. In keeping with the “succinct” message, do not write full sentences and do not write everything you do or have done in a role. Play to your audience – if applying for an Executive Director position, be sure to highlight up the success you’ve had managing others, or the amount of money you’ve raised, or the programs you’ve launched successfully.
b. But do so with bullets!
3. Include a section on volunteer experience
a. Do not confuse the reader by including it chronologically with your paid professional positions, but start a section called Volunteer Experience and list your roles chronologically. Again, maybe one line per experience – with dates and organizations, If you did something miraculous while working as a volunteer that is pertinent to the role for which you are applying - call it out!
4. Education
a. Yes – include all your degrees and all your credentials as well! Did you receive a CFRE? Do you have a CAP? Call these out on your resume! That could be a deciding factor between you and someone with similar qualifications.
5. Number of pages comes with experience
a. If you have been in the workforce for more than twenty years, you are likely going to have a resume that demonstrates that, in terms of length. I am not a fan of the concept that two pages is the limit. Not at all. Use what you need! Don’t submit a ten-page resume, because no one will read it, but three or even four pages, if written well, is completely acceptable for someone who has had a robust and long career.
6. Do you remember the era of resumes with a photo on it?
a. Guess what – those days are long gone, so please do not put a photo on your resume.
b. Or for that matter, do not put a quote, or a biblical passage, or use a lot of fancy colors and formatting to make your resume stand out. What makes it stand out, is content!
7. NO MISTAKES!
a. It may seem ridiculous to you that I even bring this up, but you’d be really surprised at what we see. When I say no mistakes, I mean NONE.
b. Double, triple and quadruple check spelling, tense consistency, formatting consistency, grammar and date consistency.
c. Make sure your dates of employment make sense! If there is a gap of more than a year, be prepared to explain it!
8. Check for consistency across platforms
a. Make sure your resume and LinkedIn page match. If they don’t, be prepared to address why they don’t!
9. PDF it!
a. Do not send word documents as final resumes (or cover letters). Different computers read/display text differently. You may have a perfectly formatted resume on your 2014 PC, but when you send it to my 2019 Mac, it will look different, unless you PDF it!
10. And finally, PROOF IT!
a. You’ve read it so many times, you will miss things, inevitably
b. Have someone else proof your resume, after you have proofed it two or three times. And then when you get it back from your friends who have proofed it, proof it once more.
I’m not the world’s expert on proper resume protocol – and I have been told that some of my suggestions on what makes up a great resume are not universally held. That said, fifteen hundred and sixty-three resumes in the past four years has given me the opportunity to have strong opinions when it comes to resumes.