Subtle Ways to Tell Your Story in Your Resume
A frequent theme of our blogs is limiting your resume to information that’s truly relevant to the position for which you’re applying. You should feel free to leave off your high school job serving fast food or your college job working retail if you have years of subsequent work experience. Also, listing only the achievements from your previous jobs can actually omit an important component of your career: your personal story.
Many of the clients I work with put themselves through graduate programs years into their career, while they were working full-time. This is no small feat! If you know anyone who has gone to grad school while they were working, you probably remember that period of their life as one of high stress and limited play. However, making this career move almost always pays off with greater career opportunities and a higher salary. It requires (and displays) real ambition to return to school when you already have a job. So, if you’re one of the many people who has done this, one way to highlight it on your resume is to stick it right into the job summary:
Manager, ABC Company
Managed a department of 20 employees. Directed all sales and billing. Earned MBA while working full-time.
Many job seekers have also performed years of consulting services on the side. Some do not include this on their resume, as they think of it as irrelevant additional information. Not so! If you have the business wherewithal to handle some amount of self-employment in addition to your regular job, that’s a valuable skill. And even if you don’t end up getting the job for which you applied, you may just gain yourself a new client!
Another way to spark great interview conversation is by including any education or work relevant to your personal passions or hobbies. I’m not suggesting that you put “likes to play golf” on your resume, but if you’re good enough to have won numerous tournaments, that shows dedication and skill that most people don’t possess. I recently worked with a woman who had taken more than 30 classes at her local culinary school over the years. I jokingly asked her if her retirement plan was to open a restaurant, and guess what … it was!
Ninety-nine percent of your resume’s content should relate directly to the position you’re targeting. However, don’t be afraid to sprinkle in a few sentences that differentiate you from the other candidates in the pile. After all, hiring managers want to work with interesting people!
For more information about professional resume writing or to read more career and job search related articles visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com
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About the author
Jessica Hernandez, President, CEO & Founder of Great Resumes Fast
Hi, I’m Jessica. I started this company back in 2008 after more than a decade directing hiring practices at Fortune 500 companies.
What started as a side hustle (before that was even a word!) helping friends of friends with their resumes has now grown into a company that serves hundreds of happy clients a year. But the personal touch? I’ve kept that.
You might have seen me featured as a resume expert in publications like Forbes, Fast Company, and Fortune. And in 2020, I was honored to be named as a LinkedIn Top Voice of the year!
I’m so glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to help you find your next perfect-fit position!
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[…] about professional resume writing or to read more career and job search related articles visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com via greatresumesfast.com Posted in: Uncategorized ← Plan & Prepare for Your Interview […]
Great advice 🙂 I always encourage clients to include as much information about themselves whenever we are working on their resume. Every little bit can count, as long as they share the information with us. It really takes some doing to play up great traits that sometimes sound run-of-the-mill…but as you mentioned, how else can we portray our clients to be more interesting candidates?
I totally agree with how clients should highlight their academic achievements while working full time!
Karen, The Resume Chick (on Google and Twitter for questions, comments or violent reactions)