Resume Tips for Experienced Professionals
I recently found myself looking for a new rol while in my early 50’s. I had not updated my resume for years.
After a lot of research and some trial and error, I found my new role within 60 days. I put this post together to share 5 changes I made to my resume that helped me land several interviews, and quickly secure a new role.
Your resume is just one tool that you use in your job search. Research, networking, and preparation are keys to landing your new role. I wish you well in your job search. Here is how I changed my resume…
The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest from a target employer that you land an interview. Don’t use your resume to tell your whole story. Use it to create interest and curiosity about your fit for the role by sharing key highlights of your skills, strengths and accomplishments. Hold back enough detail that your target employer wants to meet you and learn more about you and your fit for the role.
Resume Tip 1: Shorten Your Resume
The first thing I did was shorten the scope of my resume. It originally documented success over my 30 year career. I updated the resume to include only the most recent 15 years. With the full 30 year resume, I felt that I was being passed over for interviews in lieu of less experienced and potentially cheaper talent.
My most recent experiences were also those most relevant to the roles I pursued. This change made my resume align more closely with posted job description key words.
My most recent roles matched skills well with opportunities I sought. In inerviews I was able to draw on recent examples to demonstrate how I could excel in the new role.
Pro tip: If you’re over 50 and in a job search, remove dates from the education section of your resume. The further you are removed from formal education, the less relevant the your education is. If you have a degree or two, list them on your resume without dates.
Resume Tip 2: Ditch Your Objective Statement
Starting your resume with an objective statement screams 1995. In the era of Automated Tracking Systems and overwhelmed recruiters who sift through dozens or hundreds of resumes for a role, it’s important that your resume can be quickly scanned.
Rather than opening with an objective, start with a paragraph of skills or accomplishments. It helps quickly frame your personal brand and the message you want to communicate.
I didn’t have an objective statement, but I did have a “summary” section with three bullet points. I replaced this summary with a paragraph containing keywords, skills and accomplishments. This sparks interest and prods the reader to want to know more. Choosing the right keywords helps with Automated Tracking System evaluation as well.
What’s a Keyword?
I’ve mentioned “Keyword” a couple of times. A keyword is a word that indicates the meaning of a piece of content. For example, I was looking for a sales manager role. In my case I used words that indicated I was a sales manager who delivers great results. By selecting the keywords in my resume that matched words in the posted job description, my resume was often selected by the automated tracking system and passed to a human resources professional.
Resume Tip 3: Use Active Voice
Writing your resume with an active voice makes your resume seem more authoritative and speaks to action you take. Active voice means writing with active verbs, that is, verbs not modified by a “helping verb” like am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been.
For example, rather than saying something like, “In my last role, I was leading 15 projects.” You could improve this with one small change. Try “In my last role, I led 15 projects.” It’s clearer and in active voice. Remember, your resume communicates what you did for someone elese. Your target employer is evaluating whether your past experiences, accomplishments and actions can make their company better.
Resume Tip 4: Include LinkedIn URL and Personal Website Addresses
Resumes are great, but they’re static and limited to two dimensions. You can expand the reach of your resume by giving target employers access to other sources of information about your career, skills, interests and experiences.
As a job seeker, you’ve likely built out your linkedin profile. LinkedIn is a fabulous professional networking community that allow you to provide a robust profile to highlight you and your career. Recommendations and endorsements provide social proof about your skills.
If you want even more control over what you share with target employers, consider sharing your personal resume website URL. Your personal resume website can highlight a portfolio of your work, include relevant videos and examples of your work. A personal resume website is a great way to set yourself apart from the crowd and deliver a more compelling picture of yourself and your work to target employers. Starting a personal resume website is much easier than you think.
Resume Tip 5: Customize Your Resume For Each application
Finally, take advantage your new resume layout by customizing your resume for each application. As I said, many target employers use an automated tracking system to screen resumes before any human sees them. It’s important that your resume is relevant to the specific opportunity. This means that your resume must have enough of the appropriate keywords to demonstrate that you are a good match for the job description.
I used a service called Jobscan.co to compare my resume with specific job postings. Based on the results of my jobscan, I modified my resume so that the right keywords were present in the appropriate density. This helped me to navigate the automated scanners and land more interviews.
Jobscan.co offers a few free scans to anyone who sets up an account. If you need more of their service, you can purchase an upgraded membership. I paid for 3 months of higher level serivice so I could have unlimited access to the service.
Follow these 5 resume tips to upgrade your resume and secure more job interviews. If you have any comments or suggestions, please leave word with my contact page.
Best of luck in your journey to your next role.
