5) Crafting a winning resume 🙌

De-risk yourself as a candidate by crafting a resume that speaks to the specific responsibilities of this new role.

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Your resume is your guide

In the interview setting, your resume serves not only as your roadmap, but as the roadmap for the person interviewing you. That means it’s incredibly important to be aware of everything that appears on your resume- every detail, every accomplishment, every interest, because those are things that an interviewer can and will pick up on and ask you about.

More than being responsible for these items, you should equip yourself with a detailed recollection of what you did in each of your past roles and internships, what you learned, what you accomplished, what you liked, and what you felt you could have improved on. A three dimensional recollection of your past roles is important, and it’s key to think about that detailed recollection ahead of time, because those details have a way of eluding you when you’re under pressure and when you haven’t thought about them in a while.

Avoid BS or exaggeration on your resume

The content of your resume should be accurate, and should not include ‘BS’ or fake sounding accomplishments overblown to an absurd degree. The same goes for when you answer interview questions in person- stick to the truth. Companies like Checkr and HireRight exist to fact check the dates, responsibilities, and other details related to your past internships or jobs that appear on your resume, and it’s not worth it to embellish only to be caught in the due diligence phase.

Additionally, you need to be prepared to defend or explain anything that appears on your resume- interviewers will look for things that appear too good to be true, and will usually push you to explain those things to ensure they are valid.

There was a famous example of an applicant at a financial firm who listed the New England Patriots as one of his interests. The hiring manager saw that, and asked “who do you think will lead the Patriots in rushing this year?” The applicant confidently said that Randy Moss would. The problem with this: a. Randy Moss is a wide receiver, and does not typically accumulate rushing yards, and b. Randy Moss was no longer on the Patriots’ team at the time. Don’t try to be something you’re not- it’s not worth the risk.

Resume formatting and content

There is no silver bullet for resume formatting, but it truly is amazing how many resumes do not look professional. The best bet is to find and download a template that you think looks good, and use that as the basis for your formatting- there is no need to reinvent the wheel format wise.

Try to avoid buzzwords on your resume that don’t mean anything, and focus on the results that you delivered in your past jobs, roles, or internships. Don’t make your descriptions or bulletpoints overly wordy or dense, and don’t make them overly formal or flowery.

Your resume should be readable and engaging, and clearly convey what you’ve done and delivered in the past. You should also try to keep it to 1 page, unless you have 10+ years of experience. Additionally, make your bulletpoints in each role specific things that you accomplished- those points are much more valuable than bland, broad descriptions of what you were responsible for. By peppering your resume with accomplishments and things you actually drove, you are creating a cheat sheet of anecdotes to talk about.

Customize wording to the requirements of the job description

Try to customize your resume to the company you’re applying to, and make it really easy for the recruiter or hiring manager to see the parallels between what you’ve done in the past, and what you’ll be responsible for in this new role.

Look at the job description, and try to mirror the job requirement wording to things you’ve accomplished or initiatives you’ve driven, even as a student or intern. This is especially relevant if you’re changing careers, or if your new job is slightly different than your old one- matching language helps a recruiter easily spot the similarities between what you’ve done, and what they’re looking for, and will get their attention.

Include any accomplishments you’re proud of in a specific role, would like to remember for your own easy recall, and would want an interviewer to bring up or ask you about. Again, your resume is a chance to shine and promote your best accomplishments. Anything you put on your resume is fair game for questioning, so it’s a great best practice to list your highlights that you’d welcome questions around.

Additionally, your resume should also, ideally, list your most recent experiences (which will likely be most relevant) at the top, with education at the bottom. Make sure you don’t have any spelling or otherwise sloppy mistakes, make sure that the timeframe “tense” is correct (current roles in the corresponding tense, past roles in the corresponding tense.)

Opportunities to gain relevant experience are everywhere

Very quick follow up note: if you’re a new grad, and you’re saying to yourself, “Wow, I really don’t have… like… ANY good relevant experience for the job I’m applying for…” do not get down on yourself, because it is never too late to go out and get it.

If you want to work in finance, go volunteer for a finance or economics professor. If you want to work in sales, take a part time sales job for 1 day a week. These jobs might not be fun, but they will be hugely important platforms to demonstrate that you understand the role you’re applying for, have been successful at it before, and will be successful as a member of their organization.

The ability to speak the language of your future boss or interviewer is incredibly valuable, and you can gain that with a little bit of creativity and hustle. Interviewers LOVE to see a little bit of hustle in their applicants. So, if you’re feeling down in the dumps at your lack of experience, get creative, pick up the phone, ask around, and go get that stepping stone experience.

Responsibilities and accountability metrics

One of the most comforting things a future employer can hear is that you understand the accountability metrics that you’ll be responsible for and judged against, and that you have a track record of success with them. This shows that you understand what it takes to be successful, along with how to get there.

In sales for example, you might be responsible for activity metrics (calls, emails, etc.) along with revenue closed or generated. If you understand those metrics ahead of time, and can speak to how you’ve done with similar responsibilities in the past, you’ll be far ahead of the curve.

Your interests outside of work

As mentioned earlier, who you are outside of work and your interests are also things a company will care about, and sometimes appear somewhere on your resume. However, no interest is so important that it’s worth exaggerating (or making up) just to sounds more interesting. Understanding who you are outside of work can be a way to understand who you are as a person, establish rapport and common ground, and can also be used to guage culture fit.

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