Daniel's Notes

2024-09-05 5 Resume Improvements in Less Than 5 Minutes

8 min read

Part of 2024-09-05 HireReady Workshop Speaker: Bogdan Zlatkov: Get Started | Growth Hack Your Career Link: HireReady Resume Workshop

Speaker Background

  • 02:31
  • Bogdan switched from film/tv to startups/tech
    • Longest job search: 14 months
    • Asked recruiters and career coaches for tips

Job Facts or Myths

  • 05:10: Recruiters only spend 10-30 seconds on average scanning resumes

    • Resumes should be glanceble

  • 06:37 On average, job receive 250 applications, and interview 4-5 applicants

  • [07:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=449&v=aRN3h1V3NIs: a Resume that isn’t scannable is 60% less likely to receive an interview

    • must be scannable by ATS (structured in a way that automated systems can parse)
    • and human recruiter (must be concise, and glanceable)

  • 08:22 On average, recruiters review about 100-200 applications per day.

  • 09:09 A successful resume has 11 components

    • today we’ll talk about 5 of them.

the #1 mistake of resumes: Taking too much time

  • 09:45
  • the recruiter problem: Recruiters don’t have much time
    • A day in the life of a recruiter:
      • Recruiters attend meetings, phone screen applicants etc.
      • They actually have very little time to read resumes.
      • Often overworked and underpaid.
    • Have a new mindset: “It’s not about me. It’s about them”
      • Be concise

Bullet Points

  • Don’t show everything:
    • Filter out what is irrelevant to the recruiter
  • Balancing your bullet points
    • There are really only 5 types of bullet points
      • Built
      • Lead
      • Managed
      • Collaborated
      • Improved
    • Try color coding bullet points to see if you have a good balance of the 5 types: 12:12
      • (This exercise is for yourself. You don’t necessarily keep the colors on the final resume.)
  • New mindset: “Show your full range of experience, not your entire experience”

the Bullet Point formula

  • 14:42
    1. Power verb, 2. Method/Skill, 3. Result
    1. Power verb:
    • e.g. built, improved, led
    1. Method/Skill:
    • How did you accomplish this?
    1. Result:
    • Include the results as measurable metrics
    • What if my accomplishments are not measurable? If I don’t have metrics.
      • It is okay to estimate. It doesn’t have to be exact.
      • Try to regularly write measurable results while you have the job (before you forget).
    • e.g. resulting in, leading to,

How to Shorten Bullet Points

16:57

  • The And Technique: (How to tell if your bullet point is too long)
    • A technique to write more concisely
    • Cmd+F and look for “and”.
    • ⭐ The rule is you should only have one “and” per sentence
      • If you have more, then it means you are trying to say too much in one sentence of bullet point.

Word Count

18:38

  • Word Count:
    • Forget page count. Use word count instead
    • The ideal word count for a resume is 500 words
      • early to mid career: 350-500 words
      • 15+ years experience: 500-600 words
    • When you increase word count, you are decreasing the probability that they will see your best assets.
  • New mindset: “Your resume is the movie trailer, not the entire movie. Less is more.” 21:21

Resume Summary: Adding Personality

21:56

  • Challenge #3; Being human on paper
  • A resume is a dual purpose document
    • Helps get an interview
    • Once you’ve gotten the interview, the resume helps create a connection with the hiring manager / interviewer
  • Resume summary: 23:36
      1. Original: Be unique. Not many people could write this.
      1. Add value: Don’t just be a synopsis of the rest of the summary
      1. Informal: 14:42
    1. Power verb, 2. Method/Skill, 3. Result
    1. Power verb:
    • e.g. built, improved, led
    1. Method/Skill:
    • How did you accomplish this?
    1. Result:
    • Include the results as measurable metrics
    • What if my accomplishments are not measurable? If I don’t have metrics.
      • It is okay to estimate. It doesn’t have to be exact.
      • Try to regularly write measurable results while you have the job (before you forget).
    • e.g. resulting in, leading to,

How to Shorten Bullet Points

16:57

  • The And Technique: (How to tell if your bullet point is too long)
    • A technique to write more concisely
    • Cmd+F and look for “and”.
    • ⭐ The rule is you should only have one “and” per sentence
      • If you have more, then it means you are trying to say too much in one sentence of bullet point.

Word Count

18:38

  • Word Count:
    • Forget page count. Use word count instead
    • The ideal word count for a resume is 500 words
      • early to mid career: 350-500 words
      • 15+ years experience: 500-600 words
    • When you increase word count, you are decreasing the probability that they will see your best assets.
  • New mindset: “Your resume is the movie trailer, not the entire movie. Less is more.” 21:21

Resume Summary: Adding Personality

21:56

  • Challenge #3; Being human on paper

  • A resume is a dual purpose document

    • Helps get an interview
    • Once you’ve gotten the interview, the resume helps create a connection with the hiring manager / interviewer

  • Resume summary: 23:36

      1. Original: Be unique. Not many people could write this.
      1. Add value: Don’t just be a synopsis of the rest of the summary
      1. Informal:
    • Example:
      • beat Mark Zuckerberg at hockey was a conversation starter and interesting ice-breaker.

  • Example of a boring summary without personality:

    • “Experienced project manager with 5 years experience, self-driven, self-starter, workin gin the gaming industry for 10 years.”

  • Takeaway: Human beings hire human beings.

  • This talk is not about

  • Growth Hack Your Career:

Q & A

31:59

Metrics

31:59

  • What if I don’t have measurable accomplishments? We don’t measure things.
    • It is okay to estimate.
    • How many customers would you say come through the store? How many do you help a day?
    • It helps to have at least 3 or 4 numbers on your resume.

ATS

  • ATS issues: 35:21

    • Example:
      • beat Mark Zuckerberg at hockey was a conversation starter and interesting ice-breaker.

  • Example of a boring summary without personality:

    • “Experienced project manager with 5 years experience, self-driven, self-starter, workin gin the gaming industry for 10 years.”

  • Takeaway: Human beings hire human beings.

  • This talk is not about

  • Growth Hack Your Career:

Q & A

31:59

Metrics

31:59

  • What if I don’t have measurable accomplishments? We don’t measure things.
    • It is okay to estimate.
    • How many customers would you say come through the store? How many do you help a day?
    • It helps to have at least 3 or 4 numbers on your resume.

ATS

Quicker Resume Editing

36:56

  • Your resume should be friendly for the human being no matter what.1
  • It should be possible to customize a resume and cover letter to a job in under 5 minutes.
    • Try to be modular

How to Fill In Missing Areas

  • 38:15 Q: How do recruiters feel about resumes with freelancer experience?
    • A: Recruiters like freelancers so long as the they show the results.
  • Entry-level resumes: 39:06
  • Volunteer experience: 39:47
    • List it on LinkedIn
    • Only put on resume if it’s relevant
  • Career gap: 40:38
    • Don’t leave the career gap unmentioned
      • Put a section with a name like “Career Gap”, and a very short explanation like “Took some time off to care for aging parent.”
      • Make sure you mention it. Not mentioning it forces the recruiter to guess.
      • add a one line explanation
  • Career change: 41:47
    • These tend to be much more complicated than other job situations.
      • Expect 2-3 months extra to job search if you are doing a career change.
    • 43:11 Career change resumes:
  • Certifications: 45:35
    • Worthwhile?:
      • Yes if it is something that “actually means something”.
      • It comes in more handy in your cover letter.
  • Try this: Hand your resume to someone and only give them 10 seconds to look at it.
    • Then ask “What do you remember from this resume?”

Actionable Next Steps:

  1. Update Your Resume:

    • Implement the five resume tweaks discussed in the session.
    • Use the bullet point formula to enhance your accomplishments.
    • Ensure your resume is concise (350-500 words) and scannable.

  2. Address Employment Gaps: Include a brief explanation for any career breaks directly on your resume.

  3. Leverage Volunteer Experience: If relevant, include volunteer work on your resume to showcase skills and experience.

  4. Utilize ChatGPT: Use AI tools to generate ideas for bullet points and skills, but customize the output to fit your experience.

  5. Book a Free Strategy Call: If you’re struggling with your job search or considering a career change, schedule a free strategy call with Bogdan.

  6. Practice the 10-Second Test: Share your resume with a friend for 10 seconds and ask them what they remember to gauge its effectiveness.

  7. Prepare for the Next Session: Attend the upcoming LinkedIn profile audit workshop to optimize your online presence.

Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. You shouldn’t make a resume that is optimized for the ATS while being bad for a human to read. ↩

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