Allow Myself to Introduce…Myself: 7 Tips to Writing a Resume with Less Pain

Resume writing is a second-cousin to de-clogging the shower drain, cleaning the trash can after the leftovers spilled over, or emptying the vacuum bag of nasty hair and string.

It’s one of those things that we generally dread doing but needs to get done (and can sometimes be a hairy process, pun intended). About a year ago I reviewed 150 resumes in a one-week period for a leadership program. After resuscitating myself, a few consistent gaps became apparent that, if altered, could maximize the impact of a resume.

Aside from this 150-resume-binge, I have sat on numerous search committees and coordinated multiple programs that require resumes as part of the application. In fact, I fancy myself a pretty good judge of quality resumes. From personal experience, I can tell you that, in general, a reviewer will not spend more than 60 seconds reading through an application. So here are seven ways to really make those seconds count:

1. Identify your skills.
   Start by asking yourself the question, “What are two skills or abilities that I excel at?” These could be anything, but should be skill-based. For example, you may be a skilled strategist, communicator, public speaker, organizational guru, researcher, mathematician, or bow-hunter. These take some time to identify, so don’t hurriedly put down something generic that you think people want to hear. Once you identify those skills, be sure they are referenced throughout your resume. After all, a resume is a snapshot of your experiences and the skills or abilities you have developed.
2. Identify who you are.
   Just as the resume shows your skill-set and background, the cover letter complements it with a “this is who I am” focus. In other words, ask yourself the question, “Who am I as a person and what do I value?” The cover letter is all about your character. Again, list two things you would want a reviewer to understand about who you are. This could be that you are a hard-worker, a people-person, or that you believe integrity is the greatest virtue. These are typically things that don’t generally show up on a resume, but that are an important piece of your identity. Regardless of what you come up with, the goal of the cover letter is to succinctly explain who you are by citing examples from what you’ve done on your resume. By the way, showing the reviewer that you are a people-person through a powerful story is better than simply saying, “I’m a people person.”
3. Quantify your experience.
   “Coordinated leadership programs for the campus” sounds pretty cool. But “coordinated 12 leadership programs for more than 1,200 students, faculty, and staff” sounds even better. Whenever possible, plug in numbers to give your resume reviewer some context. Remember, if I’ve never coordinated a program, worked with your committee, or produced widgets before, I have no context for understanding the true nature of what you accomplished. Make it count by including some numbers!
4. The devil’s in the details.
   There is really nothing worse than coming up with a fantastic resume and then blowing it with misaligned margins, erratic punctuation, or 17 fonts. Make sure all columns line up, you are consistent with periods, and you use no more than two fonts. A graphic designer once told me to use a sans-serif font (lacking the little tails on the letters) for headings and subheads and a serif font (has tails to guide your eyes when reading) for the actual text. Sans-serif fonts such as Arial and Helvetica make the headings pop. Serif fonts like Garamond and Times make it easy for your eye to follow the text.
5. Prioritize.
   The order that you list experiences speaks to their importance. If you list a professional job above a volunteer position, this would say that you want the reviewer to focus more attention on the things you learned from that professional experience. If you are applying for a volunteer job, you may want to flip-flop those experiences.
6. Give it the 30 second test
   My colleague introduced me to this test. Once you are done with your resume, give it to someone to review it for 30 seconds. Take it away and ask them to regurgitate what they believe are your skills. Ideally, they should recite the skills you identified in step one. This simulates the actual resume review process and can provide some unbiased feedback.
7. Keep a “Wins” list.
   For the past several years I have kept an ongoing “wins” list on my desktop in a Word document. This is pretty self-explanatory. Every time I experience a “win” — something I achieve or some way that I add value to the organization — I write it down. When the time comes to update my resume, I have a power list of things I’ve accomplished while working at this organization. This streamlines the process in the future and makes “cleaning the drain” much less painful.

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What other tips have you come across that may be helpful to someone preparing a resume?? List them below in the comments and add value to this article — then list that on your resume!