Resume Making Notes

Author

Adrian Cederberg

Cold Emailing
Andrew LeCivita’s Resume Playlist)

From Andrew LeCivita - Resume Tips

Consider the Audience

The resume is for recruiters and HR. They will typically look at the header first. Top Center is a very important point to draw attention to.

  • Do not include an objective statement.
  • Education should not be at the top! Give them more up front.
  • Do not go immediately into your work history. This will require further scanning on the part of the recruiter.
  • Do not use tables. Applicant tracking systems do not like them.
  • Resume should be evidence of your capabilities!
  • Do not worry about white space.

Providing a career profile at the top is very helpful. An example show follow the format of

{{ carreer profile }}

{{ statement of competencies }}

which helps eliminate skills sections. This eleminates a listing or table. DO NOT USE LISTINGS OR TABLES!

Using listings makes it look like you’re trying to hide something, according to Mr. LeCivita.

Focus on Your Impact!

Think about the STAR method. Focus on results and use measurements!

Reflection

Everything he says here is stuff that I have failed to do in previous versions of my resume, so this feedback is very useful. In particular, I will make sure not to include listings and tables in my pdf resume (they will stay in the site since running out of space is not a concern there).

I should try to investigate some applicant trashing systems too.

Andrew LeCivita - 4 Resume Writing Strategies

Create intrigue!

Make it more than a work history - the resume is a marketing device. Nobody cares about features, they care about results.

The top of the resume is the most important real estate of the resume! Do not waste it. Do not straight up list skills.

The Career Profile

Mr LeCivita emphasizes that, just like an abstract for a research paper, people want a quick breakdown of their skills. It allows you to control the narrative.

It should save the reader time, and get them to decide to talk to you by its end.

Highlights

Career highlights should save the reader from having to parse your work experience. Do not focus that which you are most proud of, it is more important to give them highlights based off of problems you solved.

Listings

Above, when I said listings are not to be used, I meant this in regard to skills. The work experiences (and possibly the highlights) will use bullets to help the audience parse the resume quickly. Listing items should be like STAR but each should express

  • The result (first).
  • How the result was accomplished.

Keep housekeeping items out of the listings - this could include context, etc. Do not overwhelm the reader. Put achievements in the bullets. Save bullets for impactful business value events.