Greetings!

This newsletter focuses on resumes. If you just want some tips to improve your resume, you'll find them here. If you want some help, but you're on a budget, I've got you covered there too.

I'm excited to share that my friend and colleague, Gillian Whitney, and I are teaming up for monthly Media Mavens Talk audio events. The first one was all about LinkedIn Lives. Our next one will be an Ask Me Anything How To Engage On LinkedIn on September 27th.

Unlike LinkedIn Live shows, during audio events, you can join us on the stage live and ask questions or just join the conversation.

🎯 One more thing, if you're in Fairfield County CT, I'm launching LinkedIn Local Fairfield County, our first event will be casual networking event in Darien on October 4th.

Tickets are $20

Learn more and get your tickets here.

➡️ How To Write An Executive Resume That Gets Results

Over the years, I’ve looked at a lot of resumes. Some are dreadful. Those that are not as bad need work to get a recruiter’s attention. Particularly once you reach the executive level.

COMMON RESUME MISTAKES

While the resumes are lacking in different ways, they all have some combination of the same problems.

Weak Content

Boring task-focused bullets (managed teams, developed new markets, etc.) or tons of metrics (reached 110% of quota, generated $8M revenue) with no story.

Bad Formatting

Too much or too little white space, usually too little. Poor font choices, namely Times New Roman which is never used by professional resume writers.

ATS Incompatible

Text boxes filled with important information. Name and contact information in the Header. Creating a persuasive, eye-catching resume takes strategy, you can easily improve your resume with a few simple techniques.

RESUME FIXES

The 3 things you must focus on are compelling content, clean formatting, and compatibility with the ATS.

Compelling Content

Most resumes fall into 1 of 2 categories: boring lists of duties or tons of numbers with no story.

Talking about what you do on a day-to-day basis impresses no one. Big numbers with no context don’t impress, either.

Employers want to know what you achieved (the metrics) and how you did it (the story). So make sure you have both.

Use the Challenge, Action, Result formula that I use with my clients.

🔹Challenge – What was the problem, impetus, issue, etc.

🔹Action – What did you do? If you’re on a team say that but include the value you brought to the team.

🔹 Result – What were the metrics that quantify your achievement? Usually, that means revenue generated, money saved, time saved, clients signed, etc.

Clean Design

Resumes that strain the reader’s eyes don’t get read. Poorly formatted resumes often have tiny margins, no space between bullets, and large blocks of text.

Another killer is poor font choice, with the biggest offender being Times New Roman. Stick to sans serif fonts (the ones without the tails). Add in a little color for impact.

ATS Compatible Formatting

Most companies with more than 50 employees use some type of applicant tracking software (ATS). While you should not try to “game” the system, it's essential to have a resume that's ATS compatible.

3 ATS Don’ts

🔹Don’t put your name and contact information in the document header, as ATS systems don’t see it. (I see this more often than you would think).

🔹 Don’t put your skills section in text boxes, they are not read by the ATS.

🔹 Don’t put your sales, revenue generated, etc. in a chart without including the same information in the body of the resume because ATS won’t read that either.

While it’s easy to get hung up the ATS, don’t. You need to write for the human reader as well. Compelling content delivered in a modern design is the way to get the attention of recruiters and employers.

📌 Resume Not Getting Results? Get The Resume Pro Pack

If you're out of work and on a budget, you may be wondering if investing in working with a resume writer is worth it? The truth is, a well-crafted resume can make all the difference in today's competitive job market.

I know everyone doesn't have the budget to work with me, that's why I created the Resume Pro Pack which includes 6 elegant resume designs in US and A4 formats and a 19-page resume writing guide. Everything you need to write a resume that demonstrates your value to recruiters and employers without the high cost of working with a professional writer, like me.

It's up to you; keep sending out a resume you know isn't working or use one of my ridiculously easy templates and guide to create a new one that demonstrates your value.

Click here if you're ready to move forward.

See you next time, until then . . .

Keep moving forward,

Annette

Annette Richmond, MA, CMRW, NCOPE, CARW, CCELW, CEIC

Personal Brand Architect | 6X Certified Executive Resume Writer |

LinkedIn Visibility Trainer | Speaker | Former Recruiter and Former Journalist

Featured by Monster, Vault, Business Insider, Forbes, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Thrive Global, Medium, and Resumes For Dummies (2015 and 2019).