Ethan Woodfill

Let’s be honest, resumes and cover letters are dreadful.

First of all, you are expected to talk about yourself. (Red flag #1). Just kidding, but resumes are tedious and annoying to write and re-write and polish. But that’s why we are here to help you cut the bullsh*t from your resume and send you off on your merry way.

The first glance

Research shows that employers often only look at your resume for 6-7 seconds on an initial read. While that may seem rude, recruiters and hiring managers may be sifting through hundreds of resumes. That’s if your resume even made it past an applicant tracking system (more on that later). So, the first impression is crucial.

How can you make your resume stand out?

From an aesthetic standpoint, you want your resume to be eye-catching but not flashy. Rather than using the standard Microsoft Word template, try an easy-to-use graphic design program like Canva. I always think color is nice on a resume, but make sure your colors are not overbearing and not clashing.

Let’s get to the content. We are firm believers in keeping it concise. Include any recent and relevant experience for the job you are applying for. Many experts say to use the last 10-15 years, but if you are just out of college like me, the past few years are fine (maybe leave out those part-time high school jobs, unless they are relevant).

The nitty-gritty

The most important part of your resume is where you talk about your skills, qualifications, and experiences that make you … you! Sometimes a really good job title is adequate and tells most of what you do. To that end,

DO NOT SUMMARIZE YOUR DUTIES!

If you are a project manager, do not say that you “manage a project.” That is unnecessary information and, you betcha, implied in the title. Instead, try a few bullet points or sentences of what you brought to the project. Pay special attention to measurable outcomes (numbers!). For example,

• Boosted site traffic by 125% from 2020-2021
• Raised $1.2 million in Q4

You can also demonstrate some of the skills you utilized on the job. Be sure to use action verbs. If possible, leave out cliche words like “responsible for” and “hard-working.” For example,

• Designed pages using Adobe InDesign
• Maintained 300 customer relationships using CMS

Personally, I do not like objective or summary statements because it is difficult to sum up all of your experiences in one sentence, especially if you have moved around industries or fields. If you want a summary, talk about your work experiences and skills in a sentence or two. For example,

Nonprofit executive with 20 years of experience in donor outreach and strategic planning.

This could easily be surmised based on your work experience but to each their own.

Check your work.

We have all done it – sent a resume or cover letter that listed a different company’s name. It happens! That is why double-checking or triple-checking your resume is so important. Try to take three scans of your resume:

1. Formatting – is everything aligned properly?
2. Spelling, grammar, punctuation – The good old proofreading. Catch any typos or silly errors.
3. Content – is it the right job title? The right hiring manager? Is this the right version of your resume, tailored to this job?

Better yet, why not hire Concise to do this work for you? Check out our $20 resume and cover letter tune-up that includes all of this. Besides, it is always better to have someone else look over your work after you have stared at it for hours. Good luck on the job hunt!