Our Head Of Talent’s Top Tips For An Eye Catching Resume

If a new job is in your plans for the New Year, it’s worth taking the time to give your resume a refresh. Our tech team regularly looks at industry-leading parsers to see what works and what doesn’t. If you haven’t already, read through our checklist to learn how to make your resume as computer friendly as possible. I am the Head of Talent, Recruiting, and Operations at Meytier and oversee a team of recruiters who look through countless resumes each day. These are my top tips for an eye-catching resume that will impress any recruiter, manager, or leader reading it.

• Summary: Regardless of what level of your career you’re in, write a summary at the top of your resume. Use it as an elevator pitch that covers your journey and provides a glimpse into the kind of roles and projects you look forward to doing so that it catches the eye of the recruiter and can help them know where your passion lies.
• Job Title: Sometimes job titles vary from company to company, but there is usually an industry standard or comparable terminology you can find that’s more widely understood. When in doubt, mention your functional role instead of just your job title to ensure that a recruiter understands exactly what it is you do. For example, VP vs. Head of Product.
• Content: Chances are your resume has too much detail that isn’t serving you. We find this to be a common issue for women especially. Rather than providing too much detail about all the specific responsibilities of your role or highlighting your team- focus on your own contributions to that job. Highlight the impact that you have had on the organization either directly or indirectly. Find numbers where you can to quantify your contributions.
• Language: Use power words as much as you can on your resume. In order to catch someone’s eye, your story has to be impactful and make an impression. Stop using language that comes off as “weak,” like “responsible for,” “ensure,” “support," and “managing,” and fill your resume with power words like “expert,” “savvy,” “thought partner,” “steer,” “execute,” “led,” etc.
• Match the Job Descriptions. One of the most important things you can do on your resume is match it to the job description’s vernacular and specifications. This is one of our top computer screening tips, but it’s helpful for people skimming as well. For example, if a job description is looking for a “project manager,” don’t write “experience managing X and Y projects”- write “Project manager- X and Y.” Also, include all your skills, even if they’re implied. If a job is asking for specific programming skills, don’t assume that a reader can infer that you have it just because you mentioned a project that involved it. Spoiler alert- the reader is probably a computer working with a simple word matching program. When you’re filling out your “skills” section, include all your soft skills! Communication, leadership, empathy, and learnability are often just as or more important than technical skills.
• Make a few resumes. It’s also likely that there are a few kinds of roles you’re interested in. Take note of what kinds of specific skills job descriptions for those roles ask for and make yourself different resumes for each of those roles. If you’re applying for “Content Writer,” “Brand Lead”, and “Marketing Associate” at different companies, it’s likely those roles have a lot of overlapping skills but also some unique ones. Make yourself different versions of your resume so that you aren’t getting passed over for not including skills you may have. Lastly, my advice to you is this: it’s your resume. It should celebrate you. Don’t worry about sounding too self-promoting, that’s what resumes are for. Don’t sell yourself short.