I know from personal experience the job search can make you feel like a piece of meat 🥩 . You get no responses to job applications, you get auto rejection emails to job applications, you get 👻 . Please don't further the analogy by using "seasoned" in your branding statement. I see "seasoned" and think of food. Serve yourself up on a silver platter, but not for lunch.
Unless you graduated very recently, it's totally acceptable to leave the dates off in your Education section. Also, if you have a college degree you can omit your High school education.
Areas of Expertise (Skills) section left out entirely or relegated to the last page. Don't leave out this section. Put it on page 1, after your branding statement. Think keywords here not sentences.
‘References available upon request’ or a list of references can be left off the resume. Have a separate reference list at the ready, for an appropriate time in the job search process, but no need to “reference” references on the resume.
Don't solely rely on spell check. Do a read through, or better two, of your resume to catch any potential errors. I've seen words "spelled" correctly, but not correct in context or missing a letter. Also, spell check may think it's doing you a favor by correcting acronyms, which are then incorrect. 🔤 Don't let spell check put a spell 🧙♀️ on you!
The banner behind your headshot is an opportunity to convey your brand. I’ve seen lots of profiles that just use one of the templates that LI provides. Let’s face it, updating your profile may not win an award 🥇 for the most fun activity, but creating a banner can be fun (try Canva) and could make you a winner! 🏆
Don’t get tense 😬 over verb tense.
If it’s not your current position, use the past tense. If it’s your current position you might have a combination of present and past tense. If it’s something you’re no longer doing, use the past tense. Make tense?
Omit headings like "Summary" and "Objective", instead have a branding headline (job title) that replaces "Summary" and a branding statement (a few sentences that speak to your unique value proposition) that replace "Objective". In summary, your objective, is to lead with your branding headline and go right into your branding statement! 😁
Have you heard the phrase ‘do the math’? Well, please don’t on your resume. You don’t have to calculate your tenure, by writing the total time for the reader. They can do the math and discern this from your begin and end dates. Hope this adds up 🧮 ➕= !
Step 1, having an Areas of Expertise (skills) section on your resume populated with skill keywords. Step 2, 🛑 stop, yes stop. There is no step 2 here. Refrain from indicating your proficiency in a skill by using words like 'beginner' or putting a number that represents the total years you've possessed a skill. Be skillful when choosing which skills to put on your resume, for sure, but stop there.
Time to get clear on clearance 👓 . Clearance level should not be indicated on your resume. Hold this information close, don't broadcast it on the resume. Especially, if you haven't removed home address from your resume. Target opportunities and companies, don't become a potential target 🎯
Here’s a gem 💎 I once heard, that I share on group branding calls. Settings➡️Account Preferences, turn OFF ‘People Also Viewed’ 👀, you don’t want to drive traffic off your profile. I say, don’t distract people. Create a traffic jam 🚕🏎🚙🚗 that 🛑 at yours.
Reverse chronological order not only applies to your Professional Experience section but Education too. Start your Education section with the degree you achieved most recently, and work backwards from there (leave high school off though, if you have college). Remember (doctorate, masters, bachelors, associates) and earn a DMBA in writing your resume. 🎓
Why not showcase tenure at a company by putting your overarching start and end dates, on the same line as the company name, and aligned to the right margin❓ If you held more than one job there, you put those dates in parentheses ( ) right next to the job title. Don't let multiple locations or some other factor, dissuade you from showcasing your full tenure. Doing it this way, makes it easier for the reader, and shows positive ➕ things...
📈 increased responsibility
🏆 promotions
👟 longevity
Settings -> Visibility -> Share profile updates with network, set this to No 🚫 .
Especially when your profile is under construction 👷♀️ 🏗 🚧, you don't want to bombard your network with all the housekeeping things you're doing. Let your network see the fruits of your labor 🍇 🍊 🍉 not the labor itself!
I'll bet most people have heard "show me the money" 🤑 but not many have heard "show me the success". I see a lot of resumes with 'proven track record of success' used, but it's not backed up in the branding statement and/or the bullet points. You obviously think you have it, so flaunt it. Paint the picture 🖌 🎨, it's worth 1,000 words 🖼 .
A mystery in context is good, I'm about 17 books in, reading Nancy Drew. If Nancy was on the case, could she solve this one, why do people leave off their last names on their LinkedIn profiles? 🔎 I'm no detective, but I think this is a case 💼 where you want to be easily found. If you make it hard for people to track you down 🐾, they'll just move on to a case they can crack.
The ampersand, &, in my opinion, looks casual, gives off a lazy 😴 vibe, and draws the eye to it. Which do you think looks better in a resume? Saved $1MM by architecting a new process & rolling it out globally. Saved $1MM by architecting a new process and rolling it out globally. Let the $1MM steal the show 🎭 not the &.
If something is important enough to include, by all means include it. Alluding to it by saying, etc., tells me it isn't important enough to name it. I think etc. is better left out of resumes. Lend 💪 strength to your statements. ⌛ time to give etc. the 👢 !
Does your LinkedIn URL stink? 👃 Did you know you can change it?
Random stinky characters after your name, no more! While viewing your profile, over to the right you'll see Edit Public Profile and URL. Click the ✏, click the ✏ again and edit away. Ultimately you want a URL as close to your name as possible, and you'll get real time validation, if you can have it. You can always add a middle initial or a bit more customization. A rose by any other name, would not smell as sweet.
If we compare resumes to 🎥, they should all be Action movies. “Responsible for” then ends up on the cutting ✂️ room floor.
Responsible for driving = Drove
Responsible for leading = Led
Responsible for writing = Wrote
You’re the ⭐️, take the leading role. 3, 2, 1, action 🍿!
Continuing the action 🎥 theme, keep your resume readers on the edge of their 🪑. Add some 🤩spoiler alerts!
🎬 pull accomplishments up into the branding statement.
🎞 add overarching dates that show full tenure at a company {role specific dates go in () after job title}.
🍿 bullet points are accomplishment gold and the shining ⭐️s are numbers. How’d your resume do at the box office? 😉
You’ll see a lot of advice about resumes, cover letters and the Open to Work frame. You know what I’ve never seen people disagree about? I’ve yet to see anyone say that networking is not important. I recently saw something on LI that said there is only a one letter difference between networking and not working and you’ve most likely seen ‘your network is your net worth’. You might cringe 😬 but I promise, you can do it, do it afraid, and embrace doing it in your style.
Continuing the 🎥 theme, we’re moving from Action (Vol 3.1 & 3.2) to Horror 👻. This one is a 😱
“The 6 deadly sins” - a harrowing tale of looooong resumes devoid of any accomplishments. Save the horror for 🎃. Resumes need not be “tricky” you, yes YOU, can craft one that’s a “treat”.
Give props to proper names by capitalizing the first letter.
Not a proper name, use lowercase.
Use the appropriate case for company names, match their website.
ALL CAPS should be a very rare occurrence, unless a company is branded that way.
I rest my case 💼!
I see many resumes that lead with an Education section, even for experienced professionals, that didn't graduate recently. In most cases, Education follows Professional Experience. If we think of Education as a foundation, then like a house it would be at the bottom. If you recently put an addition on your house (professional experience), let's say an MBA, then like an addition that calls for raising the roof, up top, could make sense.
Rules are meant to be broken. Based on what I see daily, hundreds of people are writing their resumes using the same rule book.
📏 Bullet points need to be time-ordered.
💔 Break it, order your bullets by impact, not by time.
📏 GPA listed
💔 Leave it off, especially if you were in school long ago and it's not 3.5 or >
There’s something delicious inside this tin that someone took time and effort to create. Do you see what I see? I zoomed in for you. The same might be said about resumes. Will people see the time and effort you spent in your previous roles if the first thing they see is an outer package that isn’t “objectively perfect”? Let this be the year you package your resume to best present yourself. No excuses, you can get free templates/help if you aren’t “up” on the latest in resumes.
In this day and age, there is a lot of information people can gather about us but that doesn't mean it belongs on your resume. Some PII you should leave off:
🏘 - home street address - city, state and zip suffice.
💕 - marital status - I've seen this a couple of times now and I think it might be a cultural difference.
🎂 - your age or date of birth
security clearance - either explicit, e.g. TS/SCI or implicit - Clearance level can be verified by the appropriate security office, or similar verbiage.
Like a song you can’t get out of your 🤯 it helps to remember these resume tips…
(Don’t) Ring my bell 🚪- omit your street address.
Call me on the line 📱- include a phone number in your contact info.
Handyman 🛠️, Paperback Writer ✍️?Job title = Branding headline.
Who are you, who, who, who, who? -
Branding statement
If there was a problem, yo I’ll solve it -
Accomplishments (bullet points)
Now go ✨ shine bright like a diamond 💎 and roar 🦁!
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