The first time I sat down to create my resume went something like this:
I stared at a blank Word document until I realized I desperately needed help, and frantically Googled, “need-to-write-resume-HOW.”
Unsatisfied with the advice from countless websites boasting that they had the best, easiest, fastest, cheapest methods, I e-mailed a friend asking to see hers as an example.
She gladly shared, and upon viewing her resume I was immediately overwhelmed. Her lengthy list of job experience and extra-curricular involvement filled the page to the brim, words were bolded and italicized, and to be honest I had no idea where to look first.
It was then that I realized the question of how to best write your resume is entirely subjective. It’s fine to turn to examples when drafting, but the most important questions to ask are specific to you and to whom you are applying, i.e. questions like what skills or achievements of yours does this employer actively seek?
When it comes to crafting resumes, we tend to focus more on format than content. While it is important for your resume to hold consistency in formatting, such as bold titles or font styling, it’s more prevalent to make information readily accessible for your audience. Spend your time on clarity of writing – then toy with margins.
New approaches to resume writing will allow you to add dimension to your resume, and help you clearly demonstrate to employers that your experience and skills match their needs.
In this article from Business Week, Rodrigo Malta, director of MBA admissions at the University of Texas-Austin, emphasized that employers and grad school admissions are looking for one thing: career progression.
Allow your resume to stand out with thorough yet concise descriptions of your accomplishments in a cohesive order, not simply listing job descriptions. Pull from your experiences, and focus on areas where you overcame a challenge and provide evidence of your success.
For example, “Organized products at X retail store,” does not exemplify how your involvement in the position enhanced business processes. A potential employer will be more impacted when reading, “Organized project that led to $500 in sales.” Keeping your resume results oriented is key to employers.
While the earlier approach serves only as a one-dimensional platform for employers to learn about you, this updated approach to resume writing provides an answer to the, “so what?” that employers may ask when reviewing your experience and skills.