As someone whose side hustle includes helping others polish their resumes, I’ve seen quite a few over the years. It’s always crazy to me that just a few tips can separate some of the very best resumes out there from some of the very worst. No matter your experience, no matter your industry, chances are there are things you can do to make your resume more impactful than it is today. Here are 5 of my very best tips for that.

Speak in terms of outcomes, not actions.

Hiring managers don’t want to know what you were responsible for in past jobs; they want to know what you delivered. Quantifying outcomes on your resume gives the hiring manager a sense of what you might be able to deliver for their organization, and makes it easier to choose you over someone else.

Which statement is more impactful? This:

“Responsible for digital acquisition of XYZ widgets”

Or this:

“Expanded digital acquisition of XYZ widgets by 73% YoY through implementation of new marketing strategies”

If you said the first one, I don’t believe you 🙂

The more you can speak in terms of outcomes – even where you don’t have a specific measurable result to show for it – the stronger your resume will be in the eyes of hiring managers.

Start your sentences with impact verbs.

Notice how I used the word “Expanded” in the above one-liner? That’s something called an impact verb. It’s the action you took to get to the measurable result you showcase later on in the line. The more of these you can use in your resume, the better off you’ll be.

I know it sounds silly, but it’s true.

Words like “Spearheaded,” “Designed,” “Coached,” “Oversaw,” and so on all make it very easy for a hiring manager to get a sense of what role you played in the achievement that bullet is focused on. Use them, use them often, and use them upfront in your bullets for maximum impact.

Keep your resume short – two pages at most.

While it’s tempting to showcasing every bit of work experience you’ve ever had on your resume, chances are the hiring manager for that that lead engineer job you’re applying for doesn’t really care about that paper route you had back when you were 14.

Keep your resume short; no more than two pages at most. Whatever you can fit into those two pages, great, but don’t exceed it. Other than your mom, nobody cares what you did 15 years ago, except in a general sense… and there are better ways to convey your experience than listing out all your roles, as I’ll get to in my next tip.

Customize your resume for the job you’re applying for.

This is one that so many people neglect to do, either out of a lack of awareness or just sheer laziness.

It’s not enough to just create your resume, fire it out to 300 different job postings and say “I’m done.” If you really want the job, you need to do something to set yourself apart from the other 200 people that just did the same thing as you.

By customizing your resume for the job you’re after, you maximize your changes of the hiring manager stopping at your resume and thinking “now here’s someone who lines up with what I’m looking for.” And it’s so easy to do, too.

Just take a look at the job posting, and make note of the important keywords that appear there. If you’re well-qualified for the job, you should have experience with some of those keywords. In my line of work, for example, keywords like “acquisition,” “digital marketing,” etc. are very important.

Once you have a clear sense of what skills and experience is most relevant to the job, rearrange your resume so that those facets of your background shine through first and best.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to change everything around in your resume (though it might). It might be as simple as changing the order of the bullets you include under each job, so that the most relevant ones come first. Maybe you replace a bullet or two with a different one that’s more relevant.

In some cases, you may need to swap around whole sections of your resume. For example, a particular job might require a certain degree or certification. While it’s common practice to list your educational credentials toward the end of your resume, in that case you might want to put it upfront, or at least add a “Career Highlights” section where you can all out those credentials at the top of the first page of your resume.

In short, it’s important to align your resume and your accomplishments so that they match as closely as possible with what each job posting is looking for.

Use a clean layout and font.

Some folks who read my earlier tip about keeping your resume short will interpret that as “cram four pages’ worth of content into those two pages.”

Noooo.

Leave space for your content to breathe. A bit of white space between jobs is great, even if it’s just a single line break. Good use of white space makes it easier for someone to read your resume, which means that they‘re more likely to pick you for an interview instead of tossing your resume in the recycle bin.

As for your choice of font, this is something of a personal choice, but I recommend using a clean, sans serif font. If you don’t know, “sans serif” is just a fancy way of saying “no little embellishments on the letters.” Fonts like Times New Roman are called serif fonts, because they have those little embellishments, which in my opinion (and the opinion of many others) look old-fashioned and tired.

If you’re not sure, Calibri is a perfectly fine choice. Century gothic is edgy and a personal favourite of mine, though it may not be your taste. Whatever you do, please for the love of God just don’t use Times New Roman.

Wrapping it Up

Writing a good resume isn’t rocket science. There are a few key tricks to doing it well, and checking off all of those boxes is an easy way to set yourself apart from the crowd and maximize your chances of getting that coveted interview. The reality is that most people just don’t do these things, which is good for you; if you read this far, then you’re probably the type who will take these tips and run 🙂 I wish you all the best in your job hunt!