During job-hunting conversations with friends, colleagues, and randoms on Slack and elsewhere, I end up talking about resumes. A lots of. There is, (in my (not so) humble) opinion, a significant misunderstanding of what resumes are, what they do, what they should look like, the effort that should (or shouldn’t) go into creating them, and more.
Given the current period of churn in the tech industry and the resulting increase in the frequency with which I have these types of conversations, I’ve decided to address what has become a standard part of my “so looking for a new job?” shpiel on paper (or at least electrons).
So… what, in my (again, not so humble) opinion, are resumes supposed to be for?
Contrary to popular belief, common usage, and what you may have been told in school at some point, a resume is not a loving, encouraging, and/or detailed retrospective of your work history. It is not intended as a de facto proof of your skills. It is not a biography of your work.
You create (and send) resumes because it’s a necessary step for applying, not because it’s particularly compelling. In the long run, it does very little for your employment. After all, people could (and do) write literally ANYTHING on their resume, and there’s no way to verify it until the hiring manager… wait for it now: Sit down and talk to the candidate!
This brings me to my main point: a resume serves EXACTLY one purpose: to get the recipient to invite you for an interview. If you could send a blank page saying “I’ll bring cookies and beer” and it would result in a phone call, you should do it. (Don’t do that. It doesn’t work. Don’t ask me how I know.)
Therefore, your primary goals—which will influence the format and content of the information you share—are to:
- Bypass the automated HR filters that every company uses today to get the right person to see your resume.
- Get that person to set up the initial call, where the REAL conversation begins.
Let’s talk about item #1 first. I’ll start with a semi-famous “resume hack”:
White font
The idea behind the buzzword is simple: you take keywords and/or the job description itself and include it in your resume, using the smallest possible font size and coloring the text white, making it invisible to the human reader of the page; but the text is still registered in the automated systems that enter and automatically scan the CV. The required keywords are detected and the resume moves to the next stage.
Sometimes.
Sometimes the text actually messes up the experience section of the application, causing the resume to be rejected even though it would otherwise pass. In other cases, the person sees what has happened and rejects the resume because it is perceived as “cheating”. (My personal feeling is that using auto resume filtering software is cheating, and cheating cheating is basically a Kobayashi Maru-ing thing, and I’m 100% Team Kirk on this one.)
However, it is clear (at least to me) that the white front is neither reliable nor guaranteed, but in some cases it works. Use with caution.
Sometimes it’s someone you know
As I’ve explored before, there’s demonstrable value in having someone in-house to help track your resume throughout the application journey. Internal referrals often give your resume an automatic pass to the stage of the first real interview (hiring manager). Even when it doesn’t, it at least makes it more likely that you’ll get feedback if you don’t make the cut.
If you don’t know anyone at the company in question, it’s time to put your LinkedIn skills to the test to find people who know people you need to know. Introduce yourself. Offer to pay for a coffee with someone from your target group/department/specialty and think about the company and the job.
Don’t job hunt; reach out for a conversation. Once you’ve gotten to know each other and allowed them to understand who you are and what you do, THEN you can express interest and ask if that person would be willing to give you a referral.
You get what you give
Be prepared to adjust your resume. Highlight (or, in some cases, rewrite) the resume to emphasize the needs expressed in the job description and de-emphasize less important elements.
Does that mean more work for every job application? That. Do you need to do this for every single job? OF COURSE NOT. You’d do this for high-value opportunities, not “this came up while I was scrolling through LinkedIn” jobs. But remember that the effort you put into the application very often reflects the value of the outcome. Not always, but often.
For the second part, I will emphasize that anywhere you can quantify the result, you must do so.
It’s not what you said; You said so
Again, a resume isn’t just a list of “I did this shit.” It should convince the reader that you are able to produce results FOR THEM. By quantifiably quantifying the effects and impact of your past work, you’re implicitly stating your ability to do the same for them.
Consider the difference:
- “Cultivated a healthy work-life balance culture for office and remote workers by creating groups and events for activities inside and outside of work,” vs.
- Improved employee satisfaction statistics by 5% annually by creating groups and events for on and off work activities, with an average of 65% attendance over 2 years.
- Increased product visibility by integrating a new records management system to make it a more competitive proposition for new clients vs
- $5K monthly revenue increase for the first 3 months and +30% adoption rate by integrating the new RMS, making the offering more visible, competitive and valuable.
Obviously, you may not always have numbers for the things you’ve done. This suggests a few things to me:
- Start making a habit of recording these kinds of results – not just because it looks good on your resume, but because the company you’re working for is ALSO interested in these kinds of results.
- Challenge managers to provide these types of outcome statistics and question performance when no discernible value can be achieved.
- As you write or update your current resume, note the items where you can offer ranges, where you can stand by terms like “significant increase” or “measurable impact,” and which items simply defy quantification.
For those items that don’t have a measurable outcome, think about why you’re including them. Again, “I used to do all sorts of things at my old job” is not a compelling argument to hire you. Of course, you must demonstrate that you have experience with a particular language or technology. But “I know how to do things” or “I can learn how to do things” can be communicated in ways other than taking up valuable inches of resume space like a laundry list.
Separate and lift
Consider separating work performance from work history.
Have one section for “Places I’ve Worked” that simply lists dates, company names, and job titles.
Then separate tasks from work by grouping them based on technology, deliverables, or some other category. Nobody really cares that you did these things at company X, but those things at company Y. It’s more interesting to see all the ways you used Java to create results or various improvements in team productivity. By grouping the work you’ve done by category, you create a compelling picture of your skills.
A (mostly) unnecessary summary
You have to trust that the interview(s) will come to you and ask for details, background or context. In fact, a well-designed resume will make the reader want to do just that.
As always, I hope this helps. If you have additional questions, contradictions or corrections, leave them in the comments.