Question. I am going to start a job search in January. Writing a resume seems very daunting. What suggestions do you have to make writing it easier?

Answer. I know writing a resume can seem challenging, and I won’t say it is easy (otherwise, why would anyone pay me to write one?), but I think many job seekers make the process harder than it needs to be. The problem is that this is an activity you do so infrequently and have had little instruction in doing (except, perhaps, in high school or through a college career planning office) that no wonder it seems intimidating. I do believe job seekers can write their resume and do it effectively. Here are some tips that should make the process easier.

Resume Preparation

Many people want to jump right in and start writing their resumes. This is a recipe for having a “meh” resume because it is not strategic or impactful. Instead, spend the time to think about the information you want to showcase on your resume.

Write down each job and what you did at each job

Think about everything you were asked to do, from everyday activities to monthly, annual, or one-off actions. Write it all down in a list under each job.

Write down your work achievements

Look over your work history and think about the following:

• What am I most proud of?

• What are the contributions that I made that impacted the business?

• What challenges have I overcome?

• What teams have I led?

• What work-related awards have I achieved?

• Have I created efficiencies? Saved time or money? Generated revenue?

• When have I been promoted?

• Have I come up with an idea that has been implemented?

I can go on and on, but I think you get an idea. Brainstorm everything you have done and write it down.

Dust of your old performance reviews

I hope you have kept them since they can come in handy when writing a resume. See what your supervisor wrote about you. What projects did they think were important? What skills did you demonstrate that were lauded? Write these all down.

Look through your emails

If you are still working, look through your old emails for any thank you notes you have received from your boss, peers, clients, or vendors. What are they thanking you for, and what were they saying about what you did? 

Ask your peers about your achievements

Sometimes we do not see the same importance in our accomplishments as others. There is a tendency to think that a result is not a big deal, mostly if it plays to our strengths and does not seem hard at the time. Having input from others can help to understand the significance of an accomplishment.

Accomplishments need metrics

You should now have a long list of achievements. The next step is to try to put a metric around the achievement. The reader then can get a sense of the magnitude of the accomplishment. If you saved the company money, how much did you save? If you made a process more efficient, how much time did you save? When thinking of metrics, think of absolute numbers (people supervised), money (saved $10,000 over two years), percentages (increased revenue 5%). If you do not have specific numbers but know the range, you can include that. 

Read the job descriptions of 3-5 jobs that you are interested in

You want to understand what the employers would be looking for in terms of knowledge, skills, and activities. Get several colored highlighters. Highlight all the job requirements you see in one color. What are the commonalities? You likely will see education requirements, years of experience, knowledge of specific software, and experience in certain activities. Highlight these.  For any soft skills, such as innovation or relationship building, highlight those in a different color. With a third color, highlight common job duties. 

Now match your accomplishment list to the highlighted list

Where have you gained the knowledge required in the role? Where have you exhibited the skills requested? When have you used the technical skills required? Have you done the job duties requested and have results to show for your efforts? As much as you can, match what companies are asking for with your accomplishments. 

This is going to be the centerpiece of what you write about on your resume.

There may be some activities or accomplishments that do not match anything requested by an employer. That is okay. You can leave these off. 

Writing your resume

Here are some suggestions for making the writing of your resume easier.

When you are first writing, the most important thing is to get your thoughts down

Don’t worry initially about your phrasing. The most important thing is to start getting your list of responsibilities and accomplishments written down. When writing, think about what needs to be explained to demonstrate the achievement or skill used. You want the result but also the context.

Expect to write it in several sittings

Do not think that you will write your resume all in one sitting. You should take a section, such as one job, and write just that section and stop. Do something else and come back to the resume. When you come back, do not go back to edit the last section you wrote. Just start writing the next section. Get everything down first and then go back and start editing.

Editing is about telling your story the best way possible

When you start editing what you have written, think about power and brevity. You add power to your resume by using active language to describe what you do. Write “achieved 10% over plan” instead of “the achievement was 10% over plan.” See the difference? Also, look at each word and see if it adds to the story you want to tell or is filler. Can you remove a word or words, and is the meaning the same? 

Let your resume breathe

White space is essential for the readability of your resume. Try to make sure as you are writing that you are allowing space between your headings, jobs, and bullet points. Do not try to put in too much text. Add just enough to allow the person reading your resume to understand what you did.

Resumes are not written in the first person

So if you have “I” in there, eliminate it. You can eliminate pronouns. Resumes use a shorthand language to save space and make it easier to be read.

Do you have the appropriate keywords throughout your resume?

Ah, those keywords. Yes, they are essential to let the reader know you have the requested knowledge, skills, and activities in your background. You can have them in a separate skills section, but you should also have them as part of your narrative. If you do not naturally have them in your bullet points, see where you can substitute words to add them. Just make it sound natural. Keyword stuffing is a no-no.

Formatting consistency is essential

Make sure you are ensuring that you have consistent formatting with your resume. It is very easy to find variations in your spacing, font sizes not matching, and other anomalies. These are important to be mindful of to make sure your resume looks good. It is also essential, especially if the position you want emphasizes attention to detail.

Lastly, I have one more tip.

Make sure you get someone else to proofread your resume

Not having caught a typo after you sent out a resume can be devastating. A best practice is to always have someone else with good writing skills to read your resume. Have them look at your phrasing to make sure it is understandable by others. Have them check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation. A fresh set of eyes can catch things that you will not.

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.