How to Create an Eye-Catching Resume and Cover Letter
Chapter Three: Selling Your Personal Brand
Don’t let your job application materials be the reason you don’t land the first interview.
Your resume is often the first thing a hiring manager sees when you apply to a job (if they see it at all — beware of the resume black hole). And statistically, you only have 10–15 seconds to wow a potential employer before they toss your application into the “consider” or “discard” pile.
That’s why it’s crucial to put your best page forward — especially in highly competitive, creative fields like advertising, marketing and communications.
Cover letters often carry less weight, since recruiters and hiring managers are overloaded with applications (a recent LinkedIn Jobs posting for a position at Bumble attracted 524 applicants in 2 weeks!). However, if you have a connection at the company who is willing to pass along your application, it is likely your cover letter will, at the very least, be skimmed by the recipient.
I constantly workshop my own job app materials with mentors and friends who work in recruiting. As president of Ad 2 Austin, I’ve also reviewed my fair share of resumes over the years.
I’m no hiring manager, but I’m happy to share with other creatives the feedback I’ve received on my own resume and cover letter, and what I’ve noticed when reviewing my peers’ job application materials.
Resume Tips and Tricks: Formatting, Verbiage, and Effectively Highlighting Your Experience
Formatting
Each industry has its own resume standards, but I’ve found one thing to be consistent: a clean, simple resume can help you stand out from a pool of jumbled copy and hard-to-read typefaces.
I’m incredibly lucky to have befriended creative gurus like Emily Mitchell, Becca Messenger, and Claire Hargis (also available for freelance hire!) who have helped brand and design my job application materials — including my resume, cover letter, and a presentation template to match.
If you don’t have access to this kind of talent, don’t fret! Here are a few simple tips on formatting that will capture the attention of a potential employer:
- Limit your resume to one page
One-page resumes are recommended for candidates with fewer than 10 years experience. Even if your relevant experience is extensive, a one-page resume that highlights your most important qualities shows your ability to be concise. - Use an easy-to-read, 10–12 point typeface
Don’t make a hiring manager squint while reviewing your resume. Choose a universally readable, sans-serif typeface in an appropriate font size that will be legible to different readers using different devices. - Separate your content into sections
Eye-catching resumes have clearly defined sections that highlight your qualifications and information: professional experience, education, proficiencies, certifications, extracurriculars, contact details, etc. Separate these sections in a way that naturally draws the reader’s eye from left to right and down the page. - Use bold, italics and underlining formatting
Separate and highlight sections of your resume by using typographical emphasis. If you work in a creative field like I do, you can get away with including an accent color in select areas to add personality and further differentiate sections. Save yourself time on formatting and consider purchasing a resume template from Etsy or another online shop. - Balance your white space
White space is reader-friendly, but too much white space can give off the impression of inexperience. The easiest way to control the white space in your resume is by adjusting the size of your margins and organizing sections in a way that fills — but doesn’t crowd — the page. - Brand your resume
A well-branded resume catches a recruiter’s eye in seconds. I say this with confidence because multiple recruiters and hiring managers have complimented my resume layout and the branded portfolio materials I sent along with it (thank you, creative friends!). Make your resume stand out by choosing a typeface, personal logo, and/or accent color, and use them consistently throughout your job search.
Effectively Highlighting Your Experience
How you present your experience in your resume is crucial. Remember: Your primary goal is to make it easy for a recruiter or hiring manager to see that you have the qualifications they’re seeking.
Using strong verbs and keywords, strategically organizing your content, and tailoring your resume to match the job description are surefire ways to catch a potential employer’s attention.
Here are a few suggestions I’ve learned from experts in my field and insightful job resources like Indeed’s Career Guide.
- Avoid listing everything you’ve ever accomplished
I’ll be honest: my college resume was kind of a disaster. It was an eyesore of a Word Doc that featured every single thing I’d accomplished in my life (including my first gig as a Skating Carhop at Sonic). When drafting your resume content, only include experience that is relevant to the job you’re applying for. There is more flexibility for students who don’t have a myriad of internships and career interests, but it’s best practice to highlight jobs that prepared you for your desired role. - Strategically arrange your experience
There are three types of resume formats: Reverse-Chronological (starts at your current or most recent job), Functional (emphasizes qualifications and accomplishments), and Combination (marries the best of both). The internet will tell you to review each and determine which works best for your experience. But unless you have a crazy gap in work history, I’d highly recommend young creative professionals utilize the Reverse-Chronological format. It removes any guesswork by positioning your most recent experience on top and advances the reader through your educational and/or professional journey. - Include metrics that highlight what you’ve accomplished
Resume accomplishments show employers that you’re results-driven and help tell a story of what you’ve accomplished in each role. Instead of simply listing that you executed a paid social media campaign, share the results of the campaign: “Launched Client’s first ‘Click to Claim’ Facebook ads, resulting in 5.4K link clicks and 551K impressions.” This will articulate your knowledge and success in your industry. - Use strong verbs
Starting each bulleted job description with a strong action verb makes your writing more concise and allows decision-makers to truly envision how you accomplished your duties in past positions. Consider rephrasing statements like “Responsible for managing and increasing client budgets…” to “Increased budgets for the agency’s top three clients by 21 percent…” to showcase what you did and the results you achieved. - Utilize keywords listed in the job description
A simple way to paint yourself as the perfect candidate for a role is to include relevant terms and phrases listed in the job description. I recently learned about a pesky filtering system called the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Implemented by 95 percent of large organizations, these bots collect, sort, filter and rank job applications — before a recruiter ever even sees your resume.
I found a great article that outlines suggestions for optimizing an ATS-friendly resume, including how to utilize tools like Wordle to identify keywords that are frequently used throughout your targeted positions. While I valued all these recommendations, I haven’t religiously followed them (my resume was created in InDesign and a lot of articles recommend a plain text Word Doc). But my inbox still pings with recruiter follow-ups, and I’m landing the creative interviews that matter.
Cover Letter Advice: What to Include and How to Tell Your Story
I wish I could say a potential employer has mentioned something I wrote in my cover letter, but unfortunately, I can’t. Did they read it at all? Who knows. Either way, cover letters are usually required for online job applications, and you don’t want your application to be cast out because you ignored their submission requirements.
While I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on cover letters, and I haven’t spent much time crafting the perfect digital pitch, here are a few things I’d recommend you keep in mind:
- Follow your instincts
You can read all the articles in the world, but my advice is to be yourself. That sounds cliché, sure, but I really do think it’s wisest. Obviously be professional to some degree, but write how you talk. It’s a person on the other end of your cover letter, and it’s important to remember that. - Don’t regurgitate your resume
If the decision-maker is reading your cover letter, chances are, they have already read (skimmed) your resume. Expand on professional experience that relates to the role you’re applying to and highlight case studies and results that illustrate how you could drive success for the company. - Include your contact information at the top
I’ve read countless blogs and articles on perfecting your cover letter and they all recommend including important contact details like your name, phone number, and email address at the top of your resume. They also recommend including the recipient’s name and address at the top, but that feels old school (and dependent on the role you’re applying for). In my cover letters, I include a branded logo with my name, email address, and phone number. Keep it simple — they know where you’re applying, but they may not know how to contact you to schedule an interview. - Express your intent to apply
Why do you want to work at the company you’re applying to? Chances are, the hiring manager is curious to know. This question will inevitably come up throughout the interview process, so think about your purpose in advance. Include a statement that mentions the position you’re applying to and why you’re enthusiastic about pursuing the role. Don’t be afraid to highlight unique differentiators such as the company’s mission, culture, or client roster. Some of the best conversations I’ve had with hiring managers have been centered around why I’m interested in working for the company. - Highlight applicable work samples
I cannot emphasize the importance of tying back what you’ve accomplished to your prospective job function. Take a look at the company’s case studies, thought leadership pieces, news coverage, social media channels, and website. What projects or campaigns have you worked on that tie back to what the company has achieved — or is hoping to achieve? Be specific with your experience and how it would translate to success in the role you’re pursuing. - Focus on why you’re a good fit for the role
If you work in a competitive industry, chances are there is an influx of applicants who are equally — if not more — qualified than you are for the role. That’s just the sad but honest truth. Determine what sets you apart from the pack, whether it’s soft skills like storytelling or project management or more concrete qualifications like professional degrees and certifications. Highlight why you’re uniquely qualified for the role, and also consider how you’d fit into the company’s culture. You spend way too much time at work to not enjoy the day-to-day.
Take this with a grain of salt. I’m interviewing like a mad person, but I haven’t landed my next full-time gig. That said, I’m confident in my application materials and I’ve gotten positive feedback from several different recruiters.
