Resuscitate your Resume: Three ways to make your resume more human (and come to life)
If the vital signs of your resume are weak, Pump up the pulse with (resume) CPR.
Is your resume showing any signs of life? Are the digital vital signs weak lacking color, vitality and verve? Pump up the pulse with (resume) CPR.
Many resumes that pass over my desk are empty, soul-less documents void of the person and their accomplishments and passions. It’s the black and white doldrums.
How do you know if you need to revive your resume?
You are bored reading it.
You’ve copy and pasted your job description into your resume.
It’s plain and generic.
Job duties and jargon overwhelm your bullet points.
It’s not doing its job (ahem winning interviews)
It doesn’t describe the real you.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
YOUR prescription: CPR
Let’s get your lifeblood back into your career documents. Use CPR to quicken the pulse and make your resume more human:
C: Cultivate your brand.
P: Power up with your wins.
R: Recognize your break.
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
Cultivate your brand.
Your resume is a marketing document and it’s selling YOU.
Just like your favorite product labels, you have unique features and qualities that specifically qualify you to do work that you love. It’s time to trade your lifeless work summary for your unique value promise.
Personal branding is how you showcase your prized skills, talents, and gifts to give employers a complete picture of everything you have to offer. Greet your reader with a catchy statement in the top-third of your resume describing your unique value proposition (UVP). Share:
What sets you apart from the pack.
The benefits you bring to the table.
How you can uniquely solve a company’s needs or problems.
Here are a few questions to distill what makes you distinct:
What strengths do others acknowledge in me?
What feels like fun to me but seems like work to others?
What am I known for? What do I have that peers in a similar role or applicants competing for the same job lack?
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
Power up with your wins.
Don’t let your unique contributions drown in generic job duties. While sharing the scope and context of your role is important, your bullet points should be devoted to your unique contributions.
Rouse your document with your career wins. Replace dense paragraphs describing your professional accomplishments with bulleted, lean, achievement-driven statements by sharing the challenges you faced, the action you took to tackle the challenge and your results.
How do you get from paragraph to bullet point? Keep asking yourself: "So what?" For example:
I help customers on the phone and increase customer satisfaction.
So what?
I created a procedure for call handling to ensure calls aren't missed.
So what?
I did this so well I was asked to create the customer satisfaction function of our company improving missed customer calls.
And so on. Boil it down to quantifiable, impactful bullet points. See the difference?
❌ Assisted customers on the phone and increased customer satisfaction.
✅ Decreased missed inbound calls by 30% in six weeks by developing a new call handling standard operating procedure (SOP).
Show don’t tell your impact. And for the love, get rid of the “responsible for’s.”
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
Recognize your break.
If 2020 taught us anything, sometimes things don’t go to plan – a layoff, caring for a sick family member, COVID, etc. All can lead to a gap in employment. And don’t forget career breaks that are intentional, too, like taking time off to access training and education or choosing to stay home to raise your kids.
With that said, there are real challenges to returning to the workforce. So, how do you position your career break to your advantage?
Our first inclination is to hide it, but the truth is always the best policy. If you have a short gap as a mid-career professional, you can use an easy formatting fix: Delete months on your resume.
For example:
WITH MONTHS:
Virtual Event Manager, Company XYZ | December 2020 – Current
Event Manager, Company ABC | January 2016 – March 2020
WITHOUT:
Virtual Event Manager, Company XYZ | 2020 – Current
Event Manager, Company ABC | 2016 – 2020
For gaps longer than within a year, don’t lose hope! New research finds that owning your employment gap goes further than spinning or hiding your break. Don’t hide it. Own it!
According to the recent study by ResumeGo, explaining a gap on your resume increases your chances to land an interview.
So hear this: It is in your best interest to share the WHY behind your employment break.
According to the study, applicants who disclosed the reason behind their work gap were 60% more likely to receive a call back for an interview than those who didn't! Don't only mind the gap, explain it!
What does this look like?
Social Media & Marketing Manager | 2013 – 2016 | Left position to get MBA
OR
Product Manager | 2011 – 2015 | Left for 5-year stint to care for children
If you were laid off due to a reduction-in-force due to COVID-19, write a succinct statement at the end of the summary of your role below your job title. For example:
If you don’t address it in your resume, do so briefly in your cover letter. Let your achievements and contributions take the main stage no matter where you address it.
If you have an extensive break, remember that you’ve acquired skills during that time, just not in the workplace. Your gap is an asset, not a liability. Use leadership experiences in the PTO, board membership, fundraising events, etc. to showcase the skills you’ve acquired while you’ve been away.
Give hiring managers and recruiters the correct narrative before they fill in the blanks themselves.
While your resume is a form of business communication, remember people hire people. Be memorable. Show your humanity thoughtfully. Share what makes you different, how you’ve won in your career and skills you’ve gleaned from time away from the workforce (if applicable).