How To Write A Resume: Step-By-Step
Hello dear,
Writing a good resume sounds easy, but it isn’t.
There are countless resources online. Who can you trust?
I only say this from experience. I had a hard time finding the best resource (and surely some of you have had the same problem).
Well, fear no more! As it turns out, I found a great resource.
Specifically, this book: “The New Rules of Work: The Modern Playbook for Navigating Your Career” by Kathryn Minshew and Alexandra Cavoulacos.
Why do I trust them, you ask?
Because Kathryn and Alexandra are the founders of the awesome career website, The Muse.
If you haven’t heard of it, you’re missing out.
Today, The Muse has a user base of 50+ million people. Their goal is to provide you with all the tools/ help you need to get a new job.
Knowing this, you get a pretty good idea of how knowledgeable both Kathryn and Alexandra are when it comes to careers.
The book doesn’t disappoint! In fact, if I could transcribe the entire thing here, I would.
Since I can’t, the best thing I can do is recommend you buy it (especially if you want to get better at job hunting, networking, salary negotiation, etc…).
The second best thing I can do is this letter.
So let’s get going.
5 Steps To Writing A Resume
When it comes to resumes, there is no “one size fits all.”
In fact, your resume should change depending on what job you’re applying to.
This leads us to step 1.
Step #1: Reverse Engineer
First, you tailor your information to the position you’re applying for.
Grab the job listing (print it if you must), and highlight exactly what the company is looking for.
See what words pop up over and over.
This is different from the norm (where people have one resume and send it to every company they’re applying to).
Begin with the end in mind. If you have 3/4 of the skills and qualities they’re looking for, applying is worth a shot.
Step #2: Channel The Left Side Of Your Brain
One metaphor I find helpful is to think of your resume as the left side of your brain and your cover letter as the right side.
The left side (resume) is mostly analytical.
The right side (cover letter) is mostly “feels-central.”
Sidenote: We’ll talk about how to write a cover letter next week.
Since you already know what the company is looking for, you use your resume to show them you have the experience (with numbers, data, etc…).
Remember, this does not mean you copy paste the job description!
The goal of your resume is to highlight your accomplishments.
Don’t just write “good leader.”
Instead write something like “managed a team of 50 people and exceeded sales quotas by 15% on average month after month.”
List your accomplishments (using numbers if possible).
Be specific.
Step #3: Write
The order in which your information appears is important. You want the most relevant information at the top.
However, what’s “relevant” changes depending on your experience (Are you a recent grad? A career changer? Or a senior level candidate?).
If you want to know the best order for each person, buy the book.
Otherwise, here’s the order that works for most people (from top to bottom):
- Contact information: List how your interviewer can get in touch with you. Include your name, phone number, and email address (possibly even your LinkedIn profile). Surprisingly, some people forget this.
- Work experience: This occupies most of your resume. For each role (in reverse chronological order), include your title, the company name, location, dates of employment, and follow it by bullet points about your accomplishments (remember, use numbers!).
- Awards/ Associations/ Volunteer Involvement: This is optional. But if you’ve won any awards you feel are relevant to the position, now is a good time to list them.
- Education: List from college on (most employers don’t care about high-school). List the institution and your degree. Feel free to leave out your graduation year and GPA.
- Skills: Include a few simple bullet points to highlight your top skills. That way you bring your expertise to the forefront (also you include the key words you found in step #1).
Sidenote: Make sure you use different verbs than the average. This small change will help you stand out.
Step #4: Polish
Now it’s time to do two things: Cut the fat, and correct typos.
To help you cut the fat, use this exercise I use with each letter: Imagine I’ll give you $100 for every word you remove. Now, skim through your resume and remove as many unnecessary words as possible. For $100, this should be easy!
To correct typos, use a service like Grammarly. You can also ask friends and family for their help (they might notice things you missed).
Also, make sure there is white space. A cluttered resume can really hurt you.
The goal is to fit everything into one clean page.
Step #5: Go Fancy (Maybe)
Unless you’re a designer, beware of formatting your resume too much.
There’s a reason for that. If you’re applying to work at large companies, they usually use what’s called an “applicant tracking system.”
This will filter out keywords, skills, etc from every application. If your resume’s layout is too “design-y,” this might affect their system (and you’ll be left out).
Keep it simple. Always.
If you’d like inspiration, The Muse has got you covered.
Sidenote: Save your resume as a PDF, it will maintain the exact layout and style that you selected.
Bonus Steps:
- Stand Out: One of my favorite stories is how Nina Mufleh applied to Airbnb. I’ve read this article countless times. If you really know which company you want to work for, draw inspiration from Nina.
- Use Help: If you need help to make your resume pristine, The Muse has great coaching services. For a fee, they’ll bring out the strongest version of your resume. Since this increases your odds of getting a job, I’d say it is a good investment.
And that’s it for today!
Today, we learned:
- How to reverse engineer your resume.
- Channel the left side of your brain.
- How to write and polish your resume.
- If and when to go fancy with your resume.
See you next week (follow the series here to be notified).
Be well.
R
P.S.: The Muse has a wonderful article that nicely complements this letter. With all this help, your resume will be outstanding! 🙂
Thanks for reading! 😊If you enjoyed it, test how many times can you hit 👏 in 5 seconds. It’s great cardio for your fingers AND will help other people see the story.You can follow me on Twitter at @richardreeze to find out whenever others just like it come out.📚 Do you like books? If so you might enjoy my latest obsession:
Most Recommended Books.📚
Since I write about finance, legal jargon is obligatory (because the guys in suits made me). Before following any of my advice, read this disclaimer.
