Your Resume: Your Sell Sheet

img

Lisa Alioto

02 March 2021 35 comments

Your career goals may be far from being a salesperson but when it comes to your resume, you do need to know how to sell yourself.  And that’s how you should think of your resume – as your professional sell sheet.

Your resume should highlight your professional success stories in the best possible light, with each success “popping” from your resume.   

So how do you do that?   What should you do?  What’s shouldn’t you do?  In a very quick nutshell, here’s some do’s and don’ts based on my experience of writing and reviewing literally 1000’s of resumes:

Do:

  • Consider adding a Professional Summary to the top of your resume.  Think of this section as your elevator pitch as to why you would be the perfect fit for the job.
  • Remember, your resume isn’t your job description.  Eliminate the “noise” and focus on the highlights of your career for each position that you list.
  • If it’s an obvious skill, it’s “noise” and detracts away from your success stories. No need to share that you can use Outlook or Excel – it’s assumed these days.
  • Be success-oriented as you share your highlights; neutral stories don’t sell!
  • Tell me the “why” if you can – i.e.  it created a cost-savings, reduced waste, grew profit margins, etc..  (Quantify it if possible!)
  • Use the key words relevant to your job in your resume – this will get it through an employer’s automated key word filter system and into the hands of a hiring manager.
  • Be consistent in your format, font and font size.   This isn’t to say your headers can’t be a larger font size – they should be.  Just be consistent throughout your resume.
  • Consider bullets over paragraphs.   Bullets get read, they pop; paragraphs easily can get ignored and the reader lost in a barrage of words.
  • Be professional everywhere in your resume i.e. [email protected] isn’t the email address you want on your resume.
  • Use a cover letter to customize your career highlights to the position at hand.  Identify their needs, share how your talents align with them, and explicitly highlight how this alignment will allow you to quickly contribute to the role. 
  • In short, make yourself an easy hire!

Don’t:

  • Don’t write a career objective at the top; employers want to know why they should hire you; not why you want to be hired.
  • Don’t go over two pages; no one needs your life story; what’s most relevant is what you’ve done in the last ten or so years. 
  • Don’t write your resume in all capital letters.  It’s too hard to read!
  • It’s tempting to share hobbies, but remember, you aren’t here to make friends.  This is about your job.  If your hobby entails professional skills (fundraising, board treasurer) these may make nice exceptions though.
  • Don’t include hot topic issues (i.e. politics, religion, gun rights) – remember this is your professional portfolio, not your personal one.
  • Don’t be too brief – remember you want to get your key words in there!
  • Don’t use your cover letter to repeat your resume.  Customize it to the job and share how your talents align with their needs. 
  • Don’t give them reasons to turn you down – don’t overshare and definitely don’t highlight any projects gone wrong, professional conflicts or career mishaps.

These tips are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to creating a great resume.  I strongly suggest considering hiring a professional resume writer to everyone.  Oftentimes we are too close to our own work to know what sells best on a resume and it just may not be that project that we put our heart and soul into that we really want on our resume.  An objective writer can help sort that out with you, along with leveraging their experience to put together an outstanding resume in the most current format.

Getting the job of your dreams is the goal; in the meantime,  here’s some great deals to help the budget along the way.

  • Enterprise
  • ,
  • Trending

35 thoughts on “Your Resume: Your Sell Sheet

  1. This is so helpful, so many great tips here! Thank you for sharing!! Xx

    1. You are very welcome Lauren – I’m happy to hear they were helpful!

      Lisa

  2. Stephanie says:

    These are great tips for creating your resume! It’s all about how you sell yourself. You want to jump off the page so you can get in for the interview! Once you get to the interview you can go more in depth definitely don’t want to be too wordy in your resume!

    1. Exactly Stephanie – you nailed it!

  3. These are such great tips! It can be so hard figuring out how to make yours stand out from the crowd. Such a useful post x

    Sopie

    1. Lisa Alioto

      I’m glad you found it valuable Sophie – it ca be hard to write your own resume because you are so close to your work. Hopefully these tips give a jump start!

    2. Great tips to have in creating an effective resume, especially with a good portion of hiring done over the internet! You have to think outside the box so your resume stands out to the point you even get an email or call for an interview. Thanks for sharing!

      1. Yes!! Exactly Denise!

        Thanks for stopping by and sharing your insights!

        LIsa

  4. Love this – super helpful! I definitely think it’s important to keep the length right. Not to short or too long! Thanks for the tips x

    1. Thrilled to hear you enjoyed the article Jazmin!

      Lisa

  5. Great tips. I have remember some of them when i revise my resume thank for sharing.

    1. You are very welcome Laura – I’m glad you found them helpful!

      Lisa

  6. So helpful! What do you think of design-heavy resumes?

    1. The design heavy ones while visually appealing can trip up the automated filtering systems that many employers use. So generally I suggest people do not use them unless they are in a very creative industry where their resume might be viewed as a piece of their “work.’ Great question Mariiacano!

  7. Kayleigh Zara says:

    This was so interesting to read I’m definitely guilty of having some of these don’ts on my list! I really enjoyed reading this it was so helpful x

    1. I’m glad you found it helpful Kayleigh!!

      Lisa

  8. Great suggestions! Using spell check and/or having multiple people proofread your resume is also essential to ensuring accuracy. I was once on a hiring committee and received a resume with the candidate’s own name spelled incorrectly. Avoid the embarrassment by asking for help! You have really put together a great compilation of helpful resources in this post!

    1. Great additional tips Amanda!! Thanks for sharing!

  9. I just recently revamped my resume, however I may need to update it again with this info!

    1. Excellent – I’m glad the article was helpful!

  10. Something I myself am always tweaking is my resume, it’s always so hard to show that are willing to learn anything for a role and make sure you have enough keywords for the automatic systems.

    I used to not have a professional summary, because I thought it was a little outdated. But after working with a company on my resume – still working with them!- a one liner with bullet points looks great to show my skillset.

    The Why part is super important to show what your changes led to for the company such as increase of traffic for company site, increase profit etc.

    Consistency is key with the format – everything has to sync together. Bullet points over paragraphs anytime any day as it’s so much easier to skim through – some companies get hundred of applicants a day so have to make it quick and easy for them to identify your skills and accomplishment so far.

    Cover Letters – although stressful to write – are so necessary because if it’s not included it’ll seem like you don’t care as much as someone who submitted both a resume and cover letter.

    Yes to not going over two pages! Only one page is enough. In terms of hobbies I’d like to disagree on that. In the past during interviews, my hobbies were brought up positively – an interviewer who also crochets, an interviewer asking about my athleticism due to the company being an outdoors one and the interviewer asking about data/seo in relation to my blog.

    It’s important to show your hobbies so they get the whole picture of who you are, you are more than just a professional in your field. A CEO leading a resume workshop mentioned that’s one section that people look for because it shows who you are as a whole.

    In terms of a professional resume writer there’s the good and the bad with working with them – as I’m now seeing as I work with one – it’s a lot of making sure you’re both on the same page!

    1. Sahara – these are great insights! Thanks so much for sharing!

  11. It’s an excellent reminder to everyone who is planning to apply for a job soon. I like how you mentioned hobbies here, so we cannot forget to overshare and put too much that it isn’t needed on a resume.

    1. Lisa Alioto

      Exactly! Thank you April!

      Lisa

  12. These are great tips 🙂 one that has really worked for me, although lots of people frown upon, is using a splash of colour for my name across the top of my CV. Many of interviewer has mentioned how much it stands out to me over the years!

    1. Lisa Alioto

      I think I professional splash of color is a great idea – thanks for sharing Ellie!

      LIsa

  13. Emily Carter

    These are super helpful tips! I’ve always struggled with creating a CV so these will be super handy. Thanks so much for sharing!

    1. Lisa Alioto

      You are very welcome – I’m glad you found it helpful Emily!

      Lisa

  14. Great tips, Lisa. All too often CVs read like a list of job duties rather than accomplisments and responsibilities. Also, I agree with you, 2 pages is more than enough! Thank you for sharing these valuable pointers 🙂

    Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com

    1. You are welcome – thanks you for stopping by Lisa and sharing your insights!

  15. Great tips! I used to work in HR (Recruitment, Training & OD). I agree that applicants should eliminate unnecessary details and focus on the highlights of their career. And yes – don’t go over two pages. Include only information relevant to the potential job.

    1. Yes! Yes! Yes Fritzie! Completely agree on all points! Thanks for sharing!

  16. Amy Jackson

    These are some really helpful tips, I need to update my resume in the new year so I’ve bookmarked this post to help me get started! Thanks for sharing 🙂 x

    1. You are very welcome – I’m glad you found it helpful!

      Lisa

  17. Gardening is a great method to escape the stress involving daily life by
    working along with your hands as well as becoming in touch with nature.
    Really also some sort of way to add some beauty and peace to your house by encircling it
    along with lovely plant life. Read with to find out just how to start the house back garden today.

    To store your own personal garden-fresh onions
    for employ through the winter in addition to stay away from getting rot
    as well as mold, store them in pantyhose! Yes, pantyhose!
    Merely place the onions in the legs of pantyhose,
    and, to avoid allowing them touch one an additional
    (which is what helps generate mold in addition to rot), place a twist wrap between each onion plus the up coming.
    To store, hang the particular pantyhose by simply the gusset in a new
    cool dry out place and cut down as well as pop a ditch
    from the pantyhose to take hold of the red onion when an individual need
    it.

    If you are planning an irrigation system for your garden, look at
    a drip water sources process. A conventional program using
    sprinkler heads manages to lose a good great deal water via evaporation. However , a drop technique irrigates your yard simply by
    a constant slow-moving drip of water underneath the surface, which means significantly less
    drinking water is wasted through evaporation.

    Use stones seeing as herb markers if you want to keep
    a good natural looking motif. You may write with permanent special marker on the washboard side
    of stones and even encircle your plant with them. This way you will be able to inform which kind
    of plants you include without having a good unpleasant white mark.

    Try raising crops that are an easy task to store or store
    on their own. If handled correctly plus gently, given the best amount of
    a chance to remedy, garlic, onions, special potatoes, squash,
    dry coffee beans, or shallots will keep for the very long time around a nice, dry location. No canning or freezing required.
    It will ensure obtaining fresh vegetables in the backyard all winter long.

    Shell out attention to the temperatures in your lawn. When it is
    early, as well as late, in the year there is a opportunity that your plants may be exposed to
    frost. Freezing conditions will cause a lot of plants for you to die, and even some that live will not produce
    at the amount they’d have otherwise.

    Slide is a wonderful time of often the year to plant a fall veg
    garden. The minor temperatures of autumn happen to be great for cultivating
    fast-growing, cool-season vegetables such seeing that kale, radishes and member of the
    lettuce family. Developing an autumn garden plants will require some
    organizing while you need to collect your salad crop in advance of the first
    ice. Simply by looking on the seed products packet, you will get out the time
    that will take for your plant to be able to be mature enough to reap.

    Since plants grow more slowly in the shortened nights of autumn, add a
    couple of 2 or 3 weeks towards the time listed on the seed supply.

    If the total amount of days and nights is forty-five, make sure you seed your fall crop from least that
    many days and nights prior to the time that the first time of frost typically occurs in your place.

    Create warmness with golden or yellowish foliage. Vision vibrancy in addition to warmth delivers from fantastic and yellow-leaved
    foliage. These are particularly effective in sketchy locations, giving the false impression of light-weight and depth.
    These people coordinate wonderfully with purple blooms or maybe deep bronze leaves.

    Good choices include Caryopteris ‘Worcester Gold’, Viburnum ‘Aureum’,
    numerous Hostas and Spirea ‘Gold Flame’.

    Plant from the shade. All plants will need light to survive, yet only some of them need to brilliant sunlight.
    Plants indigène to wood land parts usually are happy when they obtain protection from the sun’s rays.
    There are many crops that will flourish in a fly-by-night backyard, including Hosta, Couleur,
    Foxglove, Helleborus, Japanese Anemone, and Ajuga.
    By growing and maintaining these kinds of, you will have a good year-round screen of shade in the particular
    shadiest of gardens.

    If you have a adolescent baby, consider sporting your current child in a bookbag
    as you garden. Being out-of-doors is a great stimulating experience regarding a good infant, plus many people
    get to spend more time with anyone. Organic gardening is definitely most
    trusted for baby, while generally there is no risk connected with them encountering harsh as well as dangerous substances while
    anyone work.

    One of the best techniques to be successful
    from organic farming is to plan early. The most effective laid out plans for
    an organic backyard, always make for the best successful
    garden. Plan what you should plant early on and be guaranteed to have back-up vegetables prepared to
    plant if short-lived plant life, like lettuce and greens,
    are accomplished for the year.

    Compliment the areas of the yard in which grass is going to not grow.

    Perform not necessarily be discouraged. Accomplish definitely not
    try to regrow wine glass there. Go ahead plus take this probability to alter your ground cover an even more natural choice.
    Look to get a thing that is low-maintenance, together with put anywhere
    grass is usually struggling for you to thrive.

    Only one odd although apparently useful tip for growing organic and natural plants, should be to lightly brush your plants with your
    own fingers or a bit of cardboard 1-2 times per
    day. While this appears peculiar, study shows it can easily help plants
    grow greater, versus not necessarily pampering all of
    them at all.

    Here can be a suggestion for natural gardening! Make use of a rain measure.
    Most plant life require with regards to a great inches of
    waters per week. To find out precisely how much you need
    to be able to water, its crucial to know how much liquid the
    plants received coming from rain. As rain fall will vary greatly inside of a town, avoid be dependent on your weather
    statement; instead employ a rain measure to be able to determine the
    amount that will fell into at your location.

    Many equine farms will definitely give you their horses manure for free if you ask.
    Some may even transport that for you to your entrance for a small fee.

    Horse manure is rich in vitamins and mineral deposits that plants demand.
    Normally, the manure will be combined with wood shavings
    to help reduce the smell. For the serious organic,
    make positive that this shavings made use of are also natural.

    If your life is stress filled, gardening cannot be suggested enough.
    As you may have seen by reading through this informative article, gardening is an effortless pastime as well as the great stress reliever.
    So, what pretext do you have in definitely not commencing?
    Apply the guidelines in this article nowadays to produce a great garden and to make yourself experience fantastic, very!

Comments are closed.

Join the community

Whether you want to grow your skills, get picked up by an employer who needs your specific knowledge, earn more qualifications for your CV, or some combination of the three, the My Need to Live community is here to support you.

Join the platform

Looking for support

The My Need to Live Support Directory is a resource created by us to help 16 – 24 year olds find the help, support, organisation or practitioner you need to help them with their wellbeing when they need it.

Support directory

Latest News

Pin It on Pinterest