Top 3 Tips For Making a Great Resume

This is part of a special series sharing insights, tips, and actions you can implement when searching for a job — whether leaving your current one or due to a recent layoff.

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The average resume is reviewed for 6 seconds.

And that’s if you’re lucky enough to actually have a person looking at it.

Most end up in the digital trash can and will never see the light of day. 🚮

So, what makes a resume stand out?

Over the past decade, I’ve reviewed 1000s of resumes.

Some were great! 😃

Most were terrible. 👎️

Even after being filtered out by the application systems… there were resumes that would have been lucky to have more than 2 seconds of my time.

Throughout my time consulting with Deloitte or searching for early team members at venture-backed startups… those who were called back made sure to include these top 3 resume tips.

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Tip #1: Selecting the Right Resume Template

If you go online, you’ll find 1000s of resume templates. Heck, even Microsoft Word has a few.

I’m not going to specifically say which template to use… but rather focus on what to look for when selecting a template.

Before we select a template it’s important to note that not all of the page is treated equally.

In most cases, less than half of the page will receive most of anyone’s attention.

But wait, my resume is more than one page!?!?

❌ Do not make your resume more than one page

There are some rare, and I mean rare scenarios where this might be acceptable — but broadly speaking, avoid more than one page.

And don’t think you’re sneaky by making the font smaller than 12 pt and reducing the side margins to less than 0.25″. Don’t do that.

How People Actually Read Your Resume

People will naturally start to skim your resume

Towards the top of a resume, people may read through an entire line from left to right across the paper.

As they start to progress down your page, they will start to read less and less.

Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. Pick up a book and start to skim through the page. You’ll notice that as you start to go further down the page, you’ll start to look for only keywords rather than read each and every word.

Recruiters will skim your resume in the same way.

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Tip #2: Include the Relevant Keywords

Let’s talk about your resume getting into the hand of a recruiter.

Most resumes don’t.

Most are “screened out” by an applicant tracking system (ATS) — and it doesn’t always need to be AI!

Why is my resume getting screened out?

In most cases, the first human will look for some pre-defined criteria.

They might be filtering specifically for a relevant Job Title (i.e. Product Manager) or some specific skill (i.e. SQL, Tableau, Customer Journey, etc.)

This is really, really important!

Your ability to include the right keywords into your resume is going to make sure the first wave of criteria is met.

How do we know what keywords to include? Start with looking at the job description of a role that you are trying to get.

I promise, there are key words that are either explicitly noted (in the skills section) or in the description of the roles and responsibilities.

This also means that for different types of roles, you might want to tailor your keywords to help get you through the door.

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Tip #3: Quantify Your Accomplishments

“But I can’t quantify my results, I wasn’t in a sales or engineering role!”

That excuse is BS.

I went through two years of Big 4 consulting and have been able to express the impact I had in my entry-level roles.

Let me give you an example:

Instead of:

“Took notes during meetings for documenting project status and upcoming to-dos”

Try:

“Documented and organized 50+ meeting notes over 1 year enabling two 5-person project teams to meet deliverable deadlines on time and prevent project delay penalties.”

See how that change gives more context to who you were working with and the downstream impact of your actions?

The “So What?” Test

Here is a simple test for you to try when writing out your accomplishments.

For each bullet point, read it out loud and ask yourself “so what?”

If you can answer it — add it.

🎵 Repeat!

Once you can’t answer the “so what?” question — then you’ve got yourself a great statement of impact.

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Bonus: The 3-Second Resume Test

Do you really want to know if your resume is getting across the core information you want? Try this activity. If you can find a stranger — it’s even better!

Note: You’ll need something to keep the time, like the stopwatch on your phone.

1. Print a couple of copies of your resume.
2. Hand someone a pen and your resume face-down.
3. Provide them the following instructions: “When I say go, please review the resume and try to gather as much information as you can within 3 seconds. When I tell you time is up, flip the resume to its blank side and start to write down anything you can remember.”
4. Allow them to fill out the blank side of the resume for 10-15 seconds.
5. Review what was written down.

You may be surprised what details really stood out in your resume.

Try this a few times with different people. The less they know about you, the better as it will simulate what a recruiter will take away.

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💡 Action Steps

📝 Review and revise your resume (45 minutes)

1. Select a clean, professional template
2. Make sure it’s ONE page
3. Include relevant keywords from job descriptions you’re targeting
4. Quantify every accomplishment using the “So What?” test
5. Try the 3-Second Resume Test with a friend

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This article is for educational purposes and not career advice.