Ten Do’s and Don’ts of Making Your Resume More Impactful

There are three primary reasons you might be reading an article about how to rev up your executive resume.

• You were so busy doing your job that you neglected to keep your resume up to date. Therefore, you might have some trouble recalling key contributions you made to the organization.
• You were out of the work force for 5, 10, and 15 years raising children, taking care of elderly parents, or traveling the world with various charitable organizations.
• You did not consider changing companies, positions, or your life in general until today when X happened.

Whatever your incentive to revise your executive resume, your goal is clear; get their attention in 6 seconds or less. Research by experts at The Ladders suggests that you actually get only 6 seconds to grab the reader’s attention with your resume, not the five Utopian minutes you thought you might receive.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If your resume doesn’t convey who you are and what you offer in a brief read, you’re finished. These Ten Dos and DON’Ts are small things that can have a large impact on your resume.

DO make your executive summary the first one-third of your resume. By this stage in your career, your objective should have evolved from “What I want to accomplish” into a professional summary that announces, “This is who I am and what I bring to your company.”

This is where you incorporate your “elevator pitch” into your resume. How would you explain to someone what you do and why it is important on the ride between the 10^th and 17^th floors?

DON’T forget to include a personal branding statement that is keyword-rich and specific to your strengths and the position you seek. For example, my resume would include:  writer/copywriter/editor/social media expert 

Some job seekers have gone so far as to embed keywords into their resumes as ghost test written in reverse so as not to blatantly appear on their resume except via the search engines. The jury is still out on that approach.

DO connect the dots. Even if your branding statement entices the human resources manager to read your entire resume, you have to connect the dots for them. Listing your career experiences does not paint the complete picture for them. Tell them which of your experiences specifically will enhance their organization.

DON’T use formatting that might keep potential employers from finding you. Some experts recommend you stay away from the use of tables, others suggest creating defined sections so the eye travels easily from one segment to another. While the formatting of your resume looked excellent when printed on Classic Linen paper circa 1999, that format might look horrible when received electronically.

Understand your industry and/or the industry in which you plan to work. Find out what is conventional within that field. Obviously, an artist’s resume might take a few liberties that would undermine the job search in a more sedate field.

DO update your social media profiles. Many potential employers search Google, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media to get a feel for who you are before they contact you for an interview. Make sure that you synchronize your social media presences so that they all reflect your brand.

DON’T list your responsibilities. Your goal is to highlight your accomplishments, not list your duties at your previous employers.  Instead of mentioning your ability to overcome extreme pressure in the workplace, tell potential employers about how you re-organized the company after the warehouse fire and found creative ways to fill your customer’s orders. Higher-level management wants to know exactly how you will generate revenue for them if they pay you the six-figure salary.

DO consider using a photo. Experts divide into two camps on the use of photos on a resume. Many old school pros say “never” place your photo on your resume. The other camp asks, “What are you (potentially) hiding?”

There are now some instances when providing a professional quality headshot (not one cropped from last year’s company Christmas party or your cousin Sue’s wedding) can be beneficial. If, for example, your position will require significant customer interaction, it may help a potential employer to get a feel for who you are as they acquaint themselves with your brand. Besides, it is highly likely that they will have already scoped out your LinkedIn profile, or worse yet, your Facebook page to get a peek at you anyway.

DO include URLs to your professional online profiles to make it easier for a recruiter to find the correct “Jane Doe” on LinkedIn.

DO tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth … from a manageable timeline. A robust executive resume might extend to two pages maximum, but all others should confine their resumes to one page. Therefore, your career summary should detail only previous 10-15 years.

DON’T create one catchall resume. Tailor your resume to appeal to specific audiences. Impress them with how well you know and understand their company and how each of your specific experiences will make you an asset to them.

Whether you just had a difficult day with your boss and you feel underappreciated or your resume has generated few interviews, if you have not revised your resume in a while. Today is the day. Take your time to consider what characteristics your product has, how they apply in the field, and what makes the product valuable to the consumer (your potential employer).

Your resume is a sales pitch for a very valuable product … you.