Resume 101

Great jobs are snagged through connections. But not everyone’s a nepo baby. The rest of us Plebs try joining key clubs or Greek life, while others, like yours truly, trudge through MBA programs. In the end, us normies rely on our work experience to unlock job opportunities.

Resumes are the gatekeepers to the job world. They are as standardized as pizza toppings and ‘as effective as trying to solve an algebra problem by chewing bubble gum.’ They reflect a person’s ability to self-promote and keep meticulous records rather than their job skills. I can claim I’m a ninja with JS libraries like React and Node.js. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to tackle every Herculean coding task.

There’s even a debate on what to call this document – a resume, résumé, or go international with CV. Despite this lack of consensus, there’s a peculiar agreement that the “perfect” resume varies wildly between countries and industries. Like paying taxes, you’re responsible for figuring out what you do not know... somehow. Or else.

Some folks create “Resumes of Failure,” showcasing their stumbles and learning curves. Others opt for flashy, colorful CVs using snazzy online templates. Some make portfolio websites. Others use services like Behance to showcase their actual skill. At some point, almost everyone is required to balance out their creativity with mediocraty, using this traditional route of a no-frills, just-the-facts, resume.

If you're showcasing work for a graphic design position, by all means, make it pop! If you’re trying to get an acting gig, focus on that demo reel. For everyone else, your resume should look boring. It should have one accent color, tops, and it’s OK to default to “every tech company blue.” [See image above for help choosing an accent color from a marketing perspective.]

My 2 cents may be worthless to you. Certainly, people will disagree with my suggestions. I remember when I was 18-year-old in London, the “One-page Rule” was a hot debate. I did not think it should be up for debate: You get one page, unless you’re a seasoned pro with over a decade in the field, who absolutely needs to get deep into technical details. That probably does not apply to you. And yet some professional with little or no experience hiring will tell you, “two pages is OK.”

Professionals give bad advice regarding resumes. This bad advice gets repeated until it sounds authentic. For example, I’ve been told to remove the word “I” from the resume. I hate reading some lines without pronouns, so I refuse this advice. Others have said to add microscopic, transparent (white) text, to trick automation that scans resumes for these keywords. This seems hack-y to me. I would worry that would backfire.

Don’t worry: I’m no professional. I am focused on the reality of a proper, boring, one-page, resume, not secrets that may not work. Your resume will start as a blend of personal branding and strategic wordplay. As your career finds focus, it will become a science of conforming to industry jargon.

Tip 1: Look up the printing size norms in your area. In most of the world it is A4, which may not be the default on your text editor. In the US, there is “letter” and “legal” size. If you’re in doubt, go with A4.
Tip 2: Customize your links and emails, especially your LinkedIn Profile and email address, so that they are professional. Use Gmail over Hotmail. Make bit.ly links.

The Generic Resume

The Generic Resume is the Swiss Army knife of resumes – not perfect for every situation, but handy in a pinch. It’s crammed into a single page, with barely enough white space to take a breath. It’s the resume you whip out when you’re casting a wide net, hoping to snag something, anything, that might lead to a paycheck. This isn’t the resume for the die-hard professional who’s had their dream job mapped out since their parents told them to dream it. It’s for the rest of us, hitting the LinkedIn Easy Apply button and crossing our fingers.

Again, this is not the resume you should send out. It is the one you have for emergencies.

My generic resume uses my official job titles. It is the technically true resume. The other resumes substitute technical truth for practical truth. Like, my stint as a “Full Stack Dev” was really about Customer Success, Product Management and Tech Support duties more than code monkey-ing. My role as “Tech Support Lead” was less about leading a team and more about leading… well, just me.

Don’t list every odd job and side hustle. My high school gig as a sushi chef and my dabbling in video editing? Not relevant. This resume is about showcasing skills and experiences that are a hop, skip, and a jump away from the roles I’m eyeing. In this case, the roles are intended to show technical and management skills. Rolling sushi and extremely amateur video editing will not get me there.

This Generic Resume has more place for character. Some unique aspects embedded here:

1. I have a tagline: “Digital Dreamer.” Some people get it. Others don’t. Honestly, it just sounds catchy to me. I can pretend it is about my every thought being focused on the singularity. Or that it is an homage to my near-robotic typing and analyzing speeds. A professional would say to remove it. A fun person will say to leave it.

2. I included content that displays tangential skills to jobs I’m applying for and passion for learning. True, rolling sushi is not relevant to technical roles. My publications and GPA might be. A startup may take note of PR tools, especially if they lack a PR team. At the very least, I’m showing I’m a complete nerd, who might talk your head off about science or PR strategy.

3. Using two columns instead of one provided more space for content. It might illustrate my ADD tendencies too. Later, we will reduce it to one column.

4. I mix fonts, which is a no-no from a branding perspective. Brands have a primary and second font. Maybe a tertiary. I like the look of this resume anyways.

Everything should be readable on screen or on paper. I am aware that using abbreviations and size 10 fonts is not ideal. My homework is to get the font sizes up and improve readability. This unfortunately means cutting out more of my personality from the thing. Again, resumes are meant to bore.

Tip 3: Only use PDF files! Other file formats will cause issues, especially when printed.
Tip 4: Check what the file looks like pulled up on web and mobile devices, and printed locally. If you want to make a “Dark Mode” resume on cardstock with lifted ink, great! Most applications are online today, so they will never see it. HR will print it and berate you for a distorted file that killed their toner.
Tip 5: I use Google Docs for text editing. It adds a blank page when I max out space. To remedy this, I use an online PDF file splitting service.
Tip 6a: Maintaining your resumes is important. You never want to send the wrong version, where you left out your phone number or left in a typo. Immediately delete files with mistakes, but keep records of the flawless files. You might need to go back to an old resume. Rename each file as needed.
Tip 6b: Name your resumes so they are easy to find and differentiate. I always include my name and a time stamp, at least. This file could be named GuyGinton_Resume2024 or Resume.Q1.2024.GuyGinton. I would not recommend Q1.GuyGintonResume for the sake of sorting. I would recommend adding a trailing description, such as GuyGinton.Resume.2024Q1.Generic vs GuyGinton.Resume.2024Q1.TechSupport.
Tip 7a: Focus on aesthetics. Check, recheck, and then recheck many more times that everything is aligned. Use the indent markers at the top of your text editor. You may need to painstakingly realign each line.
Tip 7b: Ensure content is appropriately spread out. Learn the difference between pressing ‘enter’ (new paragraph) or ‘shift + enter’ (new line). For simplicity, make the entire doc (‘ctrl + a’) have “Single” line spacing. After laying out all your content, manually add line spacing by adding new lines (‘shift + enter’) and changing the font sizes on these blank lines.
Tip 8a: Read your resume aloud and adjust tenses and sentences accordingly. I’m not a stickler for typos. I am deeply concerned when lines are not readable.
Tip 8b: Ask someone else to read your resume aloud. People have a tendency to dictate straight from their head, where it is coherent. Unfortunately, these clauses may be incoherent when read aloud, by someone else.
Tip 8c: The most common mistake with readability is switching tense. Do not flip between present tense and past tense. Everything should be written in past tense, unless you are still doing the thing. Your resume is mostly a list of “dids” not “doings.”
Tip 9: If you include too many roles you are actively doing, you signal that you do not have time for a new job. Hiring managers care if you are an overachiever in the office, not in their personal life. Most do not value your volunteer, fun time, physical activity, at least until you demonstrate your dedication to the role.

The Bullet Resume

Next up is the bulleted resume, which can double as your generic resume. This resume is about conformity. It is the one that you can send out when pressed for time. This is where you trim the fat and get straight to the juicy bits, but still may not be as directed towards one role. It’s about making every word, every bullet point, count. This isn’t your life story; it’s your career highlight reel.

Professionals say bullet points are a must. This resume includes bullet points for each position. Allegedly they improve readablity. I don’t see why. If I wanted to focus on readability, I would write a resume in a memoir format. Like, “Chapter 1: Who am Guy? My career path started the 500th time someone asked me to help them with something technical, despite working in a non-technical role.”

This resume provides the purpose for applying to a job, right at the top of the page. I was advised by several people to include three bullets at the top. Those bullets could explain: 1. my purpose of applying for a job, 2. career goals, 3. interest in the specific company. That’s a lot of page real estate.

In my opinion, it makes more sense for your experience, education, awards and other sections to tell the story, then to have to spell it out with bullets. You can choose to take the “three bullets at the top” advice or do your own thing. My suggestion is to decide based on how “on track” you are within your career goal. Maybe the bullets are not needed. I compromised with two bullets. In the version above, I have a placeholder that sounds nice, but means nothing. I swap these two bullets out when I opt for this resume, based on the role.

The top 1/3 of the page is HR’s focus. This is why job applicants should use reverse-chronological order only if their latest experience is most relevant for the application. Otherwise they should emphasize the most relevant experience at the top, even if it places the positions out of order.

This resume embraces the art of omission – like ditching the months of employment to avoid the side-eye from HR over those short stints. While some may balk at this tactic, remember, it’s about painting your professional portrait in the best light. Suddenly a 10 month position looks like one year, without lying. This goes back to practical accuracy over technical accuracy.

HR focuses on your length of time at a company. They see 3+ month gaps in employment as a red flag. They will notice, “2015, 2016, 2017, 2019” and ask “What happened in 2018?” Hopefully you went through a serious trauma so they show mercy [/j]. With conservative HR personnel, jobs held under one year are giant red flags.

In some cultures, like in parts of China, employees switching roles within 6 months is normal. They empathize that people switch over simple things like “better pay” or “bad fit.” In the US, Europe and Israel, two years is a minimum. Even for a suck-y job, at a suck-y company, with a boss who sucks. I’m sure you’ve heard, “We are like family” during interviews. That translates to, “Your stuck with us, whether you like it or not.” For better or worse (spoiler: it’s for the worse), you are expected to hold jobs for at least two years.

I omit other things to conform to Israeli standards. I removed my “Digital Dreamer” tagline. I removed my physical address. [Even when I had the physical address, interviewers would ask where I live.]

Finally, there are minor modifications in this resume to add specificity. Employers like to see numbers. The numbers don’t really mean anything. Tasks are not standardized based on some universal effort required to complete them. Tasks are arbitrarily measured, such that fixing a typo can be weighed the same as a multi-sprint project. The numbers are to show you can “talk the talk.”

Tip 10: If you typed out all your work, education and other relevant experience in a truly concise manner and still have page real estate left, add up to three bullets explaining your purpose of applying to the role.
Tip 11: If you are serious about your job search, you should modify every single resume that goes out. Especially the top 1/3 of the page. Even if the roles between two applications are the same, the company’s culture or some other aspect will differ. Programming for Apple is different to programming for Microsoft.
Tip 12: If you worked at lesser known companies, emphasize the role instead of the company name. (I have a note to correct this on the resume above). Ie “Tech Support Startup” instead of “Startup Tech Support.”

The Specialized Resume

Finally, we arrive at the Specialized Resume – the sniper rifle in your job-hunting arsenal. This is where fluff goes to die, and every line packs a punch. It’s a no-nonsense, straight-shooting rundown of why you’re the top contender for the gig.

In my Specialized Resume, I include three of the original six roles listed on my other resumes. I summarize that I have had more roles (“Held four roles at various companies ranging from a garage startup to established B2B and B2G companies.”) but even this line will get deleted. The job duties are emphasized, regardless of the technical title on paper.

The study of Systematic Creativity shows that limiting yourself improves creativity. You can make a more creative picture with two crayons instead of 20. A good practice is to limit each section to less lines, and see if it removes from your story. Ask if you’re regurgitating business speak, or truly mean something.

Like the last resume, this is all about your impact in an org. Showcase your contributions with cold, hard numbers. You need to talk the talk to show you’re results-driven. It doesn’t matter that the talk is BS.

Resume conventions take the obsolete “Project Management” approach, instead of a better, OKR-driven, “Product Management” approach. Managers should focus on their org. objectives. They should set realistic standards and adjust based on worker performance. Instead it is the norm to focus on easily manipulated metrics, like the raw number of tickets accomplished. They ignore that a JIRA task can be fixing a typo, or an in depth project that takes weeks. Resume convention prefers “Completed 1,337 tickets” over “Completed 75% of tickets,” despite that the former means nothing, and the latter is a great accomplishment.

This resume is also your storytelling platform. It’s where your career isn’t just a list of job titles but a narrative of growth, challenges, and triumphs. It’s the resume that doesn’t just tell employers what you did – it shows them who you are.

On previous resumes, I listed the company “Jeeng” twice. On this better resume, I boast, “Internship… led to subsequent job offer in December.” This change puts the reader in mind, who is not familiar with my experience. It served towards saving space and demonstrating an accomplishment.

Tip 13: Believe it or not, you may have forgotten the elevator pitch for a company you left years ago, so be sure to include it. Include one line explaining what each organization does or did. It is unlikely that the reader will be familiar with every org. For technical roles, mention the business model as B2C, B2B or B2G.
Tip 14: Stick to sans-serif fonts. According to professionals, serif fonts have issues when they are parsed.
Tip 15: Interviewers look if you can “talk the talk.” They are unlikely to try to verify numeric details are 100% accurate. There are exceptions like numbers related to leadership skills (“I managed a team of 20 students”) and money (“I managed a $50 Trillion account”). Your goal is to sound accurate, so that ex-managers and recs can say, “That sounds right.” You do not have to be 100% technically accurate.

Recap

1. There is no consensus on resume structure. But also, there is: Stick to one page! PDF!

2. Make sure each line is explanatory, result-driven, and, most important of all, hyper focused on the position being applied for. This means deleting and editing lines all the time.

3. Learn your “country x industry” norms. Acting roles might require a headshot. Your region may not use A4. Speak with others in the profession to get more details on what is expected of you.

4. Show creativity when starting your resume. Then remove the creative elements with time. As your career path continues, your resume will look more similar to others applying for the same role as you. A resume is expected to be a boring piece of paper, not art.

5. Never stop editing your resume

   1. Ask professionals for advice, but do not feel compelled to take all of it.

   2. Continue to do research on how to improve your resume. Here is one article I liked because it provides suitable words: https://greatresumesfast.com/blog/resume-writing-tips-for-2022/

   3. Read your resume aloud. Have someone else read it aloud. It should make sense.

   4. Spellcheck and check tenses.

      1. The majority of your resume is likely things you did in the past, which should be past tense only.

   5. Rename files so that they are easy to find and manage. The file name should start the same, whether it is consistently “{YourName}…” or “Resume…”

6. Always keep notes on your accomplishments, even if they do not fit your current career path. Maybe one day you’ll pivot and need to reference that volunteer work.

Feel free to comment on tips and tricks that I missed out!