7 Tips to Create Effective Resumes

I was having lunch with a headhunter.

We talked about my career aspirations and her specialties. She wanted to have a look at my resume. I had a printed copy with me so I handed it to her.

Do you know how long she spent reading that? Can you guess?

Not more than 30 seconds.

In a lot of cases, that is all you get to impress a hiring manager or recruiter. Your years of experience and hours of work in developing a CV get 30-seconds of eyeball. Scary, right?

Let me share some tips that have helped me make the most of initial & subsequent screenings. They might help you too.

Tip 01: The Most obvious one

Ask yourself, what exactly can you read in 30 seconds? Give it a try. Skim through this article to see what you can retain.

You can see subheadings, bullet points, images, differently formatted sections & highlighted sections. Your CV should have similar sections as well.

Divide your CV into sections and format the section headings differently. The sections can be Work Experience, Education, Certifications, etc.

Tip 02: Morning shows the day

Your beginning matters. In the first 20% of the CV, you should put elements you want to highlight.

For example, if you are a CFA, that should go with your name ( David Tennant, CFA). You may even consider putting a highlight section at the top to show your top 3 selling points.

CVs should order your career chronologically. Also, your first section should have your most relevant experience listed or the achievement that would open doors for you. So, you may consider breaking the chronological order if one of your experiences can bring more value to the mix. For example, if you have an MBA from a great school and that increases your chance of getting an interview, you may move that to the top. Only do this if bumping that information is likely to open more doors for you.

Tip 03: Ensure your skills seem relevant to the employer

Read the job description thoroughly to understand what they are looking for. You will find that they are looking for some skill sets. Let’s assume they want a Digital Marketing Manager so you need to highlight your skills in Digital Marketing, Marketing Analytics, etc.

Create 2–3 subheadings below your role title. These subheadings should be about the skills the job poster is looking for. I will share an example below.

Tip 04: Show, don’t tell

Under the subheadings, you need to outline your achievements to prove you have those skills. You can list 3–4 activities per subheading.

Think of this from a recruiter’s point of view. You have told her that you know Digital Marketing. Everyone says that to her. Why should she believe you? Then, you are giving 3 examples of when you achieved results through digital marketing. Now she has reasons to believe you.

The hiring manager also wants to check if you know your stuff. These sections are important for them.

Also, in subsequent interviews, you can expect questions regarding these experiences. So these are the founding blocks of your resume that will move you forward.

Tip 05: Use Action Verbs

You can find lists of action verbs online. I will also add an article with action verbs and how to use them later.

For example, if you have created processes that increased revenue through digital marketing, you can phrase that experience like this. “Redesigned processes to….”

These verbs will convey what you did with conviction.

Tip 06: Show quantifiable results after using action verbs

You can say on your CV that you have “Redesigned processes leading to revenue increase”

But it is infinitely better to show tangible results. In fact, you should show the results first and then get to other details. You should rewrite the above statement as-

“Achieved X% revenue growth by redesigning Y processes”

Tip 07: Add just enough details

You are using an action verb.

You are showing what you achieved.

Now you should add how you achieved that. However, keep it short (not more than 2 lines) and use numbers if you can. You can be a little bit technical here as this will be more relevant for your line manager.

The statement above can be rephrased as:

“Achieved X% revenue growth by implementing consumer retention funnel & establishing remarketing strategy”

Let me share an example here with all that we have discussed so far.

Brand Manager, X Company

Digital Marketing

- Achieved 18% revenue growth by implementing consumer retention funnel & establishing remarketing strategy

- Gained 120k new consumers by spearheading 4 top of the funnel campaigns in 9 months

- Launched new app in 4 months leading to 70% increase in revenue from app & 30% increase in repeat purchase

Transferable Skill 2

Bonus Tip: Have 3 people read your final draft

One of them should be someone from your field. The second one, if possible, is someone with an HR background. The third one should be a friend with no such experience.

All three of them should quickly scan the document and share what they retained. You should check if the image they are getting is consistent and whether it matches your intention.

You should also ask the person from your field to have a deeper look and suggest improvements in detail.

Job search is not fun. At least not to me.

In recent years, I have done courses, worked with career coaches, and applied to multiple jobs. I think I still have a lot of room for improvement. But I have seen my results improve by using these tips and also the Job Search Funnel. You can check the funnel here.