7 Ways to Level Up Your Resume

As someone with a 32 year career, I’ve gained many valuable insights on successfully writing resumes, conducting a job search, applying for roles, and interviewing at Fortune 500 companies and funded startups. You can schedule a 1:1 coaching session here.

There are some components that are unique that I think you will find interesting. I hope this article on leveling up your resume blesses you while trying to find a new job. Here are the 7 tips for making your resume get noticed.

Tip #1: A simple, but methodical executive summary

Having a strong executive summary at the top of your resume is important, even if its just 1-2 sentences. Be sure to write it in a way that explains who you are, what you do, and for whom. An example of this is “I’m a seasoned marketer with 20 years of experience transforming brands by building successful go-to-market (GTM) strategies in the pool industry for Fortune 500 companies and funded startups.” See how I focused on who I am , what I do, and for whom? Whether you are in marketing, sales, design, a teacher or engineer, this is a great format.

Tip #2: Function>Solution>Impact

When explaining what you did in each role regarding your job function and/or achievements, use this format for each bullet point, “Function>Solution>Impact”. Think about what function you performed, the solution you provided, and the impact that you made.

A strong example of this is “utilized research and insights from data to develop & execute the GTM for B2B retail channels that created a thriving retail ecosystem in the US & Canada ($10M Revenue).” See how in this bullet, I described the job function, the solution I provided, and a numerical result of the impact that I made.

Some of you may think that a teacher or engineer doesn’t make numerical impact, but that isn’t true. What’s the dollar size of the project your working on? How much money did you save the city? How many students have you impacted? You just need to give this some extra thought.

Tip #3: Skills or Superpowers?

Some resumes have really long lists of skills and others skip over this, but I think listing your skills on a sidebar or in a wider section is a great opportunity to focus more on listing your “superpowers”. By “superpowers”, I mean the skills you’ve honed the most and will get paid top dollar for. Reference my article on “Should you make a career pivot?” for direction on the 10/100/1000 Rule and discovering your superpowers.

Here is an example of superpowers “my superpowers include being an incredible brand ambassador, go-to-market strategies, charismatic leadership, and an ability to mentor and coach team members into becoming A+ players.” You can even list this in your executive summary if you would still like to list out all of your skills in a section or sidebar.

Tip #4: What is your Tech Stack?

Its 2024 and listing the technologies you know how to use is important. 20 years ago MS Office and email might have been appropriate, but today you need to really think about all of the technologies you’ve used in a workplace setting, received from education, or are self-taught.

This could potentially be a long list if you are very experienced, but focus on listing the technologies you’re most likely to use for jobs you’re submitting an application. Here is an example “MS Office, Google Suite, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube, SEO, SEM, Eloqua, Go High-Level CRM, Salesforce, Pardot, Constant Contact, HubSpot, Hootsuite, Shopify, Google Adwords, Google Analytics, WordPress, Zoom, Canva, and Grammarly.

Tip #5: List your training and education

There are a lot of influencers that talk about skipping college, some are billionaires, but I guarantee you they have a staff under them with MBA’s. Education is still very important, but it doesn’t have to be in a classroom.

Make sure you highlight your education, certifications, courses, conferences you’ve attended, and/or even books you’ve read. These all thinks all help position yourself as the right candidate. Include a one bullet point articulating what you gained from it. An example is “Marketing Metrics & ROI Certificate from DePaul University in 2017 that focused on generating ROI from SEM, SEO, email, and landing page campaigns.”

Tip #6: Simple formats work best

In my 32 year career, I’ve made a lot of resumes and used various formats. Some resumes have even had designed images and sections with thumbnail icons, unique fonts, and colored headings. Overall, I’ve found that simple MS WORD documents work best much of the time.

Using a simple format like this will make your resume easily readable by various artificial intelligence (AI), if the human resource manager is utilizing AI to select candidates. Also, think about what types of keywords you may want to mention 2-3 times each throughout your resume. Reviewing the job description is a good source for identifying what keywords you want to focus on.

Tip #7: Include testimonials

Lastly, whether you are applying for your first job or you are a seasoned professional, someone has probably given you a review or recommended you somewhere. These days with LinkedIn, it’s easy to collect recommendation from managers, peers, and friends.

At the very end of your resume, add a recommendations section and include 3 quotes as testimonials. I typically recommend at least one manager, one coworker, and maybe one miscellaneous (This could be a client, teacher/professor, uncle, business owner you know, etc.). Simply include the quote in italics with the persons name, title, and where they work.

Overall, (as a rule of thumb) for young professionals, I recommend a one-page resume. For more seasoned professionals I recommend up to 2 pages. Unless you’re applying for a government job, then I recommend up to 5 pages, because of the way their AI grades and selects resumes to consider.

I hope you found this advice very helpful. As a coach, I help my clients discover their superpowers, find the right roles, create better resumes, prepare for interviews, and gain valuable insights that help accelerate the progression of their career as a professional. You can schedule your first session here.