What kind of stories are you telling recruiters and interviews through your resume?
When you are applying for jobs, your resume should always answer the question of “Why should we hire you instead of someone else?” It needs to be a great representation of your skills, knowledge, and accomplishments, communicating that message in the most authentic and interesting way possible.
With that in mind, having “stories” in your resume is an essential part of making it engaging to read. Every line needs to contribute. If it does, then keep it. If it doesn’t, then consider deleting or editing the line.
Think of your resume as a guide for “storytelling” that you need to analyze line-by-line. Seriously, sit down and go through this exercise. You might be surprised at what you discover!
This is how to do it:
- Review everything written in detail – line-by-line. What does it say? Is everything part of a story? Start at the top and go through the entire document.
- Look at the individual keywords for each line. Do they help to tell a story? Look specifically at the verbs (what you can do) and the nouns (what do you know).
- Look at entire paragraphs that give context to fill out the individual stories.
Over my last 18 years working as a resume writer and a coach, I’ve realized that resume writing is a form of interview coaching. If you will be diligent and study your own resume, you will be much better prepared for the interview.
If you aren’t quite sure how to “tell a story” with your resume, you might need some help pulling it together. If you’d like to talk about how you can better communicate your story, please feel free to schedule a free consultation to discuss it with me. Let’s go through your resume together and put together a plan to tell the story of your career thus far!