Transforming your resume / CV

If you are ready to change roles or change career pathways, it all starts with your resume. We can bury our heads in the sand and open doors with pure charm, but often even at later stages, at some point they will want to see what you’ve done in writing!

Your resume is a marketing tool for you. It's your chance to showcase who you are, what you've accomplished, and why you're perfect for role you are applying for. Think of your resume as your personal brand statement.

The video above expands on each of these points in more detail.

Professional Summary

This is your elevator pitch – a brief, powerful statement about who you are and what you bring to the table. Keep it concise and impactful and remember to focus on the role you are seeking.

*TIP* When applying for a role (especially if you aren’t submitting a cover letter) tailor this section to the role you're applying for. Highlight your key achievements and how they align with the job you're seeking.

Should I add a photo of me?

Yes if you feel comfortable with this. The image must be high quality, have been taken within the last 12 months and either be a professional headshot or an image of you in action doing your work or something you are passionate about.

Experience

Employers love to see quantifiable achievements. Numbers speak volumes. Provide data and be specific.

Instead of saying 'Improved sales,'…Say 'Increased sales by 30% over six months by XYZ” Demonstrate your impact.

Values & Impact

You are likely reading this blog on my page because you are seeking a purpose-driven role. Make sure you highlight any experience related to key value pillars employers might be looking for e.g. social impact, sustainability, fundraising or driving ethical practices. Even if it's not the core of your previous jobs, find the connections that showcase your experience and commitment to positive impact.

Optimising Your Resume

Many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to manage their recruitment processes, many of these have search capabilities that filter the information in your resume. Please make sure your resume includes relevant keywords for the role / industry you want to work in. You can find these in job adverts / descriptions.

*TIP* Don’t pack your resume with buzzwords. Ensure your skills listed genuinely reflect your expertise and strengths.

Design & Formatting

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The main thing is that the document has a clean, professional layout, and that you utilise bullet points and white space for readability. Stick to one or two fonts size 11>, add colour and design if that truly reflects you, but keep images to a minimum.

Your resume should be easy on the eyes and highlight your most important information at a glance.

*TIP* Save your resume as Word for editing and save a copy as a PDF for sharing / applying to preserve your formatting.

What’s the perfect length?

The more roles / education / achievements you add the longer it gets. To be frank, the most important information will come from the last 5-10 years. As long you have this concisely presented it’s fine to go over 1-2 pages, I personally think up to 4 is fine.

*TIP* Get a friend to review it, someone who doesn’t work in a similar role so they can flag overuse of industry jargon, they might be more ruthless.

Tips to reduce the length of a long resume

• Remove your early career experience
• Reduce reduce early career to a simple list of Job Title and Company Name if you need it to remain
• Remove High School information & achievements unless you are a graduate or you left school within the last ten years
• Cut out tables of skills / strengths, weave them through your summary & roles and bold them instead
• Lead with Achievements, this allows you to delete long lists of responsibilities

You want to stand out from others with the same job title as you who are applying for the same roles.

Remember, your resume is more than just a list of jobs – it's your story and showcases your impact and passions.

If you found these tips helpful, be sure to subscribe to this blog for more chat, tips & guidance.

If you are still finding the creation of the perfect resume overwhelming, I can support further with: 

ResumAZING – A detailed downloadable guide that takes you through creating a standout resume + loads of templates you can chose from if you are struggling to find a foundation that reflects you.

Personalised Resume Review and Feedback – I will review and provide detailed feedback on your resume that you can work through. Via track changes and / or a record video. Once ready, you can resubmit your final version for a final review, includes my ResumAZING + Templates.

Meh to Marvellous – our twice-yearly comprehensive Job Search and Career Transformation self-guided course. Starting with understanding your purpose, then guidance through each step of the recruitment & job search process, right up to settling in to your new role.