Welcome! Below are a few things to know before you begin this course.  

• You don't have to take the course in chronological order if you don't want to, but I do recommend watching Modules 1 & 2 to start off with, as you'll learn important information and develop a plan that will influence how you write your resume.
• Resume examples are a key component of this course! My goal is to help you learn from the successes of my former clients. You'll find downloadable versions of resumes referenced during the video lessons at the end of each lesson. In addition, the Resources lesson in Module 7 includes resume examples by occupational category, so you can easily locate the resumes related to your field.
• You can skip ahead to the Optional Modules if you're worried about a specific individual situation such as an employment gap, being overqualified, or a career change.

The Goal of a Resume

In this lesson, we'll get clear about what the goal of a resume is and what you should remember as you write your own resume.

Remember, you're not writing the resume for yourself - you're writing it for a hiring professional (Recruiter, HR Professional, or Hiring Manager).

What Hiring Professionals Want to See

In this lesson, I'll share firsthand, insider knowledge of what Hiring Professionals want to see in a resume. Remember, a Hiring Professional (Recruiter, HR Professional, or Hiring Manager) is the person you want to impress with your resume. Keeping this target audience in mind, your goal is to create a resume that is aligned with what they want, so they'll call you for an interview.

ATS - Applicant Tracking System Intro

In this video, I talk about why ATS is important and the absolute basics of what you need to know when writing your resume.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are human resources software designed to streamline the hiring process for companies. With hundreds of job applicants for every opening, it's impossible for recruiters to read through every application.

ATS ranks your resume based on how well it matches the job description.

Establishing Your Resume Target 

What is a Resume Target?

In this lesson, you'll learn what a resume target is and why you need one before you start writing your resume. Although developing your Resume Target & Plan can be time-consuming, this is the most important step you need to take in the resume writing process. Once you have a clear idea of what you want and what's required, it will be easy to write a resume that impresses a hiring professional and lands you interviews.

Why do you need a clear resume target?

• You need to understand clearly what the hiring professional is looking for and what the role requirements are in order to write a resume that's effective.
• Resumes written by those who are unsure of what they want tend to be unfocused and scattered. This is not what a recruiter wants to see.

3 Steps to Researching Job Postings

In this lesson, you'll learn how to research and review job postings in order to create your resume plan. This will involve reviewing job postings in detail and identifying relevant keywords for the posting. You'll learn about the three main sections that generally appear in a job posting. Remember - the qualifications in a job posting are what employers want in an ideal scenario. Keep in mind you don't have to have everything. Generally, if you have around 75% of what's required - you should apply.

Do You Really Need Two Versions of Your Resume?

You'll really only need to watch this lesson if you think you MAY need to create two versions of your resume.

If you've created your Resume Target + Plan, and feel that you're clearly focused on a resume target, you most likely don't need to watch this lesson.

You should watch this video If either of the following applies to you AFTER you've worked through your Resume Target + Plan:

• You've learned that you're interested in pursuing more than one type of role, i.e. Project Manager & Trainer, Operations Manager & Human Resources Manager, Sales & Design Engineer, etc.
• When completing the keywords section of the Resume Target + Plan, you noticed that the job descriptions and keywords between roles are quite different.

 What Your Top Third of Your Resume Should Look Like...

The top third of the resume is where you’ll grab the reader’s attention. This is the first place the reader will look, so you need to be strategic. You need to make sure everything in this section is relevant to the job, so your reader KEEPS reading.

Remember that hiring professionals are quickly scanning resumes for relevant content – and might only be looking for a few seconds. If yours doesn’t look relevant right away, they might be moving on to the next resume. This is where we put your plan into action – you want to write this summary to portray yourself as closely as possible to the description you created. You also want to touch on the three main themes of the resume here.

There are 3 main sections in the top third of you resume:

1. Headline/Title
2. Summary
3. Core Competencies

Exercise - Resume Critique 

It's your turn! Reviewing everything we just went over in the last lesson, try reviewing these three resumes that weren't working. Identify what you think is and isn't working when it comes to the top third: the headline, summary, and core competencies.

After reviewing the resumes attached to this section, answer these 3 questions:

1. After reading the top third of this resume, what type of job do you think the person wants to apply for?

2. What do you think is working & not working with the top third of this resume?

3. What would you do to improve the top third of this resume?

WRITING THE TOP THIRD OF YOUR RESUME - Top Thirds That Aren't Working

In this video, you'll learn what I think is (and is not working) with the top third examples I provided you in the Resume Critique Exercise.

Earlier, you answered these 3 questions about each of the sample resumes:

1. After reading the top third of this resume, what type of job do you think the person wants to apply for?
2. What do you think is working & not working with the top third of this resume?
3. What would you do to improve the top third of this resume?

Compare your answers to each example in the video & think about the following questions:

• Were you able to identify what type of job the person wanted to apply for?
• Were you right about what was not working?
• Finally, do you agree that the edited resumes were an improvement and why?

You can download and review the improved versions of the resumes as resources.

What Your Professional Experience Should Look Like on Your Resume...

Think of it this way: the top third is written to get the employer's attention, while the professional experience section is written to prove you can do the job.

From a hiring professional's point of view, they're looking to see if they can find candidates who match the job posting. This doesn't mean that the candidates need to meet all the requirements of the posting, though. You need to write a professional experience section that demonstrates that you have similar experience to the skills and responsibilities listed in the job posting – so the hiring professional reading the resume becomes confident that you can do the job and calls you for an interview.

Experience Section Tips

1. Don’t copy the job description exactly. You need to describe your own experience in a way that’s relevant to the posting, not copy what’s there.
2. Be honest about your experience. If you don’t have all of the relevant experience, try to describe your experience in a way that’s relevant to the posting.
3. Include a high-level overview of each role (typically at the top) and then list Achievements as bullet points for each role.

Exercise - Writing Your Achievements, Prove You Can Do the Job! 

Coming up with achievements and writing them can be one of the most challenging parts of writing your resume.

Often people run into these challenges when writing their achievements:

• Don't feel like they have any achievements
• Have trouble identifying their achievements
• Don't know how to present their achievements on their resume
• Feel insecure bragging about their past achievements

I've worked with hundreds of people who felt like they didn't have any achievements, so let's get started now and start adding your achievements to your resume!

 What Not to Do:  Example 1

In this lesson, let's look at how I wrote achievements for four different clients working in a variety of industries and occupations. If you'd like, you can download copies of the fixed resumes, so you can view them in more detail.

Example #1 - Unspecific Achievements Without Results

In this example, the achievements were not specific enough or clear. Using the Problem, Solution, & Results framework, we were able to include more details and, most importantly, emphasize the impact of her work on the company in order to create impressive achievements for her resume!

If you'd like a closer look, download the fixed version of the resume in the Resources section.

What Not to Do - Example 2

Example #2 - Achievements Too Complex

This client's achievements were way too complicated. Written with a lot of technical jargon and a ton of detail, the reader's first inclination will be to stop reading altogether. Using the Problem, Solution, & Results framework - I was able to zero in on the problem my client was solving and the impact his solutions were having on the organization - in order to write interesting and engaging achievements to impress a hiring professional!

What Not to Do - Example 3

Example #3 - No Results

This client's achievements didn't include any results, so the resume didn't read well. It was difficult to understand the value he had delivered in his previous roles. Zeroing in on the results of his efforts truly showed off his skills, knowledge, and abilities.

What Not to Do - Example 4

Example #4 - Achievements With the Wrong Kind of Details

This client's resume got into the details, but it wasn't necessarily the right kind of detail. Focusing on what's most important to hiring professionals along with describing achievements and results that show you have the skills required for the job, will ensure that your resume stands out.

What Your Education Should Look Like on Your Resume

There are a few factors that can influence how the Education section of your resume will appear, which include:

Level of Education

If you've completed a lot of education, it will make sense to focus on this section.

How Recently You Completed Your Education

If you completed your education a number of years ago, and you've been focused on building experience and progressing in your career, your education section might not be that important. However, if you've recently gone back to school or you've continued to complete professional development training and upgrading courses, it might be very important to focus on. Next, you'll learn about examples of how different Education sections may look depending on various factors.

How to Write an Outstanding Cover Letter

Learn how to write a cover letter tailored to the job posting that will ensure you stand out!

• What employers look for in a cover letter
• Format I recommend using for a cover letter
• Easy ways to customize the cover letter for different roles
• If you're changing careers or have an employment gap, you might want to add some extra content to your cover letter. Check out these examples!

Putting it All Together - "My Editing Tips"

Editing is an important part of the resume writing process. Your resume is not going to come out perfect instantly. It’s going to take a bit of trial and error to see what really works. Trust me, I've written hundreds of resumes! So don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re feeling stuck or jaded at any point during the process – it’s totally normal.

Tip #1: Just Starting Writing... Your First Draft

Tip #2: Give Yourself Time & Space

Tip #3: Check for Frequently Used Words & Use a Thesaurus

Tip #4: Remember Your Grammar

SELF-EMPLOYED - Optional (Lecture 42)

If you're self-employed (or you were previously self-employed) and are now looking to find a full-time job with an employer again, it can be tricky to write your resume.

Challenges

There are a number of challenges you might face when writing a resume as someone who is self-employed, including:

• You may have broad experience. You might have done everything for your company including marketing, sales, accounting, customer service, project management... and more. It can be difficult to know what you focus on.
• Your job title might be general, such as Owner/Operator, President, Founder, etc.
• You might describe your work using terms such as self-employed, contract, freelance, or something else.
• You might be considered overqualified for some of the roles you want to apply for.
• Potential concerns from hiring professionals, such as you might be uninterested in working for someone else, only interested in the job for the short term, or not used to being managed.

Solutions

• Focus only on related experience that is relevant to the type of roles you want to apply for. Leave out anything that is unrelated or irrelevant.
• Use a functional title related to the job you want (and ideally at a similar level) such as IT Analyst, Human Resources Manager, Marketing Specialist, Sales Director, etc.
• Mirror the language of the job description even if you didn't approach your role in exactly that way. Maybe you didn't think about "developing sales strategies" as an entrepreneur, but if it's a requirement of the job description, try to word your achievements in a similar way.
• Consolidate consulting experience into one heading. See the "Multiple Short Term Roles" lesson for more details on this.

Job Hopping (Lectures 45)

If you've had recent experience working in multiple roles on a short-term basis, it can be a bit of a challenge to present this effectively in your resume. Let's start by looking at some of the challenges involved in writing a resume with multiple short-term roles.

Challenges

Hiring professionals could have concerns about an applicant who has a resume with multiple short term experiences for these main reasons:

• Hiring pros may worry that you get bored/dissatisfied and leave jobs quickly. They might worry that you're not going to stick with this role either.
• They might be concerned that you didn't perform well in previous roles, so you either quit or were laid off - and you might not perform well in this role.
• Finally, they might think that you didn't stick around long enough in the previous roles to gain any valuable experience and/or knowledge - and your experience might be less valuable compared to other applicants.

Solutions

As with any resume, you need to convince them that you have the experience and knowledge to successfully do the job while minimizing the focus on any short-term experiences.  Consolidating/merging experiences with the Professional Experience section into one heading. This works well if you've worked in contract or freelance roles, but can be done with other types of experience as well. You'll list your experience under one company name. See Examples 2 & 3 to see how I've done this with clients.

Tip - If you don't have a company name, create one by listing "your initials" or "last name" + "Consulting," mine would be "Thomson Consulting" or "VT Consulting.