Golden Rules for Writing a Resume

Bulgarian Woman in Tech (BWT) Resume Workshop Takeaways

One of the workshops we held this year (April 29th, 2021) was focused on Resume Writing and, most particularly, what are some good old rules that never change, as well as some of the latest trends. But don’t worry if you were not able to attend, we got you covered with a quick summary.

The Resume: Think of your resume as a single piece of document serving as a powerful marketing tool. A Glassdoor research shows that the average job opening attracts 250 resumes. That means there are 249 or more people, out there competing with you. This further reiterates the significance of writing an exceptional resume and standing out among the hundreds of applicants out there!

Some things to consider to help you craft a resume and give you a good first impression from the get-go:

• One Pager - Some people would say that resume length is a myth, but best practices prove that it shouldn’t exceed one page. Keep it short, avoid overrated phrases with empty or unclear meaning. Latest research shows that 40% of hiring managers spend less than a min reviewing a resume. To be more accurate- hiring managers spend an average of just six seconds on your resume before they decide on you. There are four things that recruiters and hiring managers look for in the resume scanning stage: work experience, education, skill set, and personality.
• Numbers, numbers, numbers- Metrics, data, or any kind of stats help recruiters and hiring managers see the impact you made. No matter what industry you’re in or what level you’ve reached in your career, there’s always something on your resume that can be enhanced with a number. If you don’t know exact numbers, you can use a range.
• Field Specific Resume- Make sure you’re applying for the job that matches the skills that you have. Tailoring your resume to a specific industry and career field is one trending approach. The generic resume no longer works for most companies. By highlighting the skills that match the job criteria, your resume can immediately show that you are qualified for the job.
• Format and Proofreading- Double-check… No! Triple-check for typos. Make sure your copy is clean, not only by running a spell checker, but also by asking several trusted friends to review it. About 98.8% of Fortune 500 companies use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in their hiring process. Make Your Resume ATS-friendly by using keywords. Another trend in the format is to build the Resume in Power Point and save it as PDF. The PPT tool will give you more room for creative visuals and help you stand out from the crowd. But do keep in mind that ATS can read PDFs, but are known to read MS Word docs more accurately. So having both files comes in handy.
• Personality and Emotional Intelligence- Hiring managers look for applicants with adaptable personality and emotional intelligence. In a Career Builder study, results show that about 77% of employers believe that soft skills are important. Skills associated with your personality are just as important as hard skills. In your resume, mentioning some unique hobbies that can be relevant to the job position you are seeking makes you a better candidate.

Some things to consider avoiding:

• Don’t Get too Personal. Don’t put personal information, such as your photo, marital status or religious affiliation, in your resume. You don’t want to expose yourself to conscious and unconscious bias on the part of the hiring manager. Employers shouldn’t make employment decisions based on these factors. Keep your resume focused on the facts. Latest studies show that it is better not to include your full address in your resume. It is unnecessary and opens you up to privacy and discrimination concerns. Only put your city, state, and zip code as part of your contact information.
• Don’t Include References- Listing references on your resumes is outdated. You are looking for recruiters to talk to you, not your references, when it gets to that point, they will reach out to you and ask for those names.
• Don’t Misrepresent Yourself- When it comes to resumes, honesty is the best policy. Misrepresenting yourself in a resume might get you a job interview, but chances are that you will be caught in a lie then or during employment.
• Don’t Include Unrelated Skills-When listing skills and attributes on your resume, make sure that they are current and relevant to the position. Adding unrelated skills will do very little to help elevate you above the competition, and it can be a red flag for recruiters.
• Do Not Include NDA Protected Details- If it’s a company secret- do not mention it on the resume. Any information protected by Non-Disclosure Agreement such as products or features that haven’t been released to public, shouldn’t be discussed. High level description of the project won’t violate your NDA, so you can still mention it, just don’t go into details. And since NDAs are common, everyone would understand why you are being on the safe side.

Let’s take a look at Talent Works study showing the most efficient resume approaches:

40% effectiveness if you really work the numbers, as we mentioned earlier.

51% boost over the competition goes for not using the so called “cliché phrases”. Why not using them? Because they could undermine your credibility and they don’t state facts. Example of such filler words are: “detail-oriented”, “team-player”, “hard-working”.

55% effective for not using personal pronouns- try to leave out pronouns such as “I”, “me”, “my”. This style is called “first person implied”.

59% for Key skills- this section is really important highlight of your skills, so make sure you include that.

89% goes for early birds. The study shows that sending your resume between 6AM–10AM is a pretty successful approach. Why? Well, first thing people do in the morning is check their email.

140% last, but not least, using the so called “action verbs”- ex. “build”, “developed”, “researched”, “implemented”… etc. Active verbs focus on outcome and results and passive verbs focus on the subject.

Bonus: Optimize your LinkedIn Profile and think of it as your personal brand. Start building your online presence with it, make sure the info there matches the info on your resume, and add your LinkedIn URL to the Resume. Latest trends show that a customized link is even better, you can do that in LinkedIn Account Settings. Ex. to such URL would be: “linkedin.com/firstlastname”

Although you missed the hands on resume review and live discussions this time, make sure to follow BWT on Social Media for updates on upcoming workshops and events.

Disclaimer: The provided information is based on our own research and personal experience.

About Bulgarian Women in Tech

Bulgarian Women in Tech is a global organization that aims to establish a strong network of women working in technology across the globe.

Our mission is to increase the women in tech global impact through providing accessible-for-all global opportunities for education, collaboration, growth, inspiration and mentoring, while celebrating our successes together.

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