Craft a resume that highlights your experience in as clear and compelling a manner as possible
Aspen Leadership Group is committed to ensuring that our
clients are made fully aware of the extraordinary talents of our candidates and
PCN members. We are sharing the following guidelines to assist you in crafting
a resume that highlights your experience in as clear and compelling a manner as
possible.
Be empathetic. Put yourself in the role of the individual—be
it a hiring authority, a member of a selection panel, or an HR
representative—who will be reading your resume. Ask yourself, “Will the
recipient be able to gain a sense of who I am and what I have to offer the
first time they read my resume—when my resume may be one of dozens seen that
day?” “Are there memorable aspects to my resume that will remain with the
recipient when he or she moves on to the next resume?” “What does my resume,
the formatting, the visual impact, the choice of active and passive language
say about me?”
Less is more. The ability to make a case succinctly in a
meaningful way—being aware of what resonates with an audience, cutting through
the mundane, and focusing on compelling themes—is a key component of the
advancement profession; your resume is an indication of your capacity to be
both compelling and succinct. Many successful individuals with decades of
experience have been able to craft excellent one-page resumes. Very few careers
demand a resume of more than two pages. Within a specific position heading, two
or three bullets are all that most hiring authorities can focus on in one
sitting. Under professional experience, consider one statement that summarizes
your experience and responsibilities and two to three supporting statements
containing measurable or tangible results. Short direct sentences are more
powerful than long complex sentences. No mention of collaboration or one’s team
sends a message that may be in conflict with your intent.
See the big picture. When a hiring authority receives a
resume, the first thing they see is a graphic—a picture—not words and sentences
but a series of black and white spaces. Their first reaction to your resume can
shape the recipient’s view of your experience for better or worse. Your resume
should be attractive. There should be an ample amount of white space and an
easy to read font, no smaller than 11 points. Generic fonts like Times New
Roman should be avoided. Indentation, capitalization, and use of bold text
should be considered as graphic elements that add interest to your document and
keep the recipient engaged. If you use a 24 point font for your name, and an 11
point font for your experience, consider the subtle statement this makes about
your priorities. Avoid the unexpected or overly dramatic. It is best to use a
heading that includes your name and contact information, follow this with a
statement or goal if you choose, then list professional experience, education,
and professional affiliations.
Be consistent. Use consistent formatting and language
throughout your resume particularly when presenting your professional
experience. This includes titles, employment dates, and the presentation of
responsibilities and accomplishments. If in one listing you begin with “Led a team
of eight...” try to do the same throughout.
If you have held multiple positions at one
institution—particularly if you have taken on more responsibility during your
tenure—list these as sub-headings under one clearly articulated institutional
heading. This avoids the pitfall of having your positions of successive
authority appear to be short tenures at multiple institutions.
Avoid hyperlinks and complex graphics. While it is true that
most resumes are received electronically and the first review may take place
online, when a resume is distributed to a search committee, the materials are
often printed—and not on a high-quality printer. Hyperlinks are lost in the
process and graphics, including one’s portrait, that may stand out online may
be poorly reproduced or translated from color to black and white. Consider how
your resume will appear printed as well as online.
Tell a story. The most successful resumes tell a story—they
may even contain an element of suspense. Your experience should build to a conclusion—in
the mind of the reader—that the opportunity for which you are applying is a
perfect and logical next step for you. Anything that you can do to show that
each position built upon the prior position and that you learned valuable
skills along the way will make this new opportunity make greater sense. Careers
follow different, and often unexpected, trajectories, but a skilled
communicator can show unity in disparate experiences—for example, illustrating
how they enhanced your skill set or offered you the opportunity to provide
support to a cause you believe in. Consider the breadth of your career and look
for unifying themes—make sure they come through clearly.
Know your audience. Creating a resume with which you are
satisfied can be a time-consuming endeavor, but, unfortunately, one size does
not fit all. An esteemed university and a start-up reliant on crowd funding are
simply going to have different expectations of how candidates present
themselves. Pay close attention to the language used in the position prospectus
and on the institution’s website for insight into the type of language and
presentation skills sought, and tailor your resume accordingly. Be responsive:
without rewriting your resume for every position, you should maintain the
flexibility to provide examples from your professional life that are responsive
to the position description.
Nobody’s perfect. Somebody probably is perfect but it is
unlikely to be you and it is certainly not me. Proofread your resume multiple
times and then ask at least two friends or colleagues to do the same. Make a
“hit list” of common errors—spacing, typographical errors, tenses, inconsistent
use of degrees and titles, capitalization, etc. The quickest way for one’s
resume to end up in the rejected pile is for the hiring authority to find a
typographical error.
Seek professional help. At a certain point in one’s career,
it may be necessary to seek out the services of a professional resume writer.
This may be because your experience is so vast and the positions you seek are
so advanced or it may be that you simply are not confident with your
presentation abilities. Regardless, there are numerous services available if
needed. Seek them out and choose the service that is best suited to your needs.