Want resume writing tips? The other day someone asked me if I edit resumes, and did I have any pointers.
She said her husband works as a Teamster (not sure what that involves– I would research in detail if she planned to hire me), and he’s looking for a new job.
Apparently, this man is worried that because he didn’t go to college, he’ll be passed over for opportunities.
I just want to say right now that it really depends on the industry you work in, whether or not a hiring manager would stop at your education credentials, or lack thereof.
In many types of careers, experience factors in strongly whether you’ll be hired. But that may or may not include formal education.
Resume pointers for us all
If you follow this blog, you may know that I dove into the job market a bit this past year. But with my son starting high school and the associated chaos, I haven’t been posting lately. I was into a hot and heavy freelance project, and now I’m tired from all of that.
So it was good that I ran into this person, not just to offer tips for her husband, but for my own job/gig-searching sake, and for anyone else who reads this blog looking for career hunting tips.
For me personally, the copywriting and content marketing industry remains rough thanks to AI. But that doesn’t mean that a Teamster who’s worried about education credits can’t thrive in his own field if he’s good at what he does.
Organizing your resume
So I explained to this lady that you have a few different options for organizing your resume, depending on what you want to emphasize.
Let’s dive into some resume formats
Consider your goals before settling on a format for your resume. Below, find some ideas.
Career history resume
The career history resume (I’m making this term up right now and it may actually exist, I don’t know) is laid out in a “most recent to least recent” timeline of roles you’ve held.
If you want to highlight your experience and steady employment record, then go with this format.
Just list out the jobs you held as follows:
- Start/end date
- Title or Role
- Company
- Town, City
- Responsibilities
Repeat this for all of the relevant titles you’ve held as they apply to the role you seek currently.
“Proven results” on your resume
One thing the lady did mention to me was that her husband has saved his company thousands due to forging new relationships with company suppliers.
I thought about that, and then the words “proven results” flashed in my mind.
You’ll come across this phrase a lot. It’s used frequently by people who want to get ahead based on what they’ve accomplished.
As a copywriter myself, I struggle with proving my worth on paper. While I’ve heard thanks and praise for my work, no one has ever assigned a numerical value to what I do.
But if you, like this teamster fellow, have captured figures on paper that show where you either helped the company increase the bottom line, or helped them save thousands or even millions, then by all means bullet that out in a section of your resume.
If you did this as a top performer for more than one company, then repeat your achievements, and use numbers to prove your value in the way I have described, for each one.
Numerical value remains one of the most powerful methods of persuasion for a resume, sales page, or testimonials on your website.
The “strengths and skills” resume
I also mentioned to this lady that if her husband would like to take the focus off education, he can add some sections to his resume that emphasize strengths and skills.
In many ways, being able to scan a list of the applicant’s best qualities remains one of the most effective ways to gauge if they would be a valued team member.
Computer skills rule the day
Anyone who has computer skills would definitely want to list these out, as this is a highly desirable trait in a worker for any field.
These days, every company uses computers to get things done more efficiently. Even something like a farm is likely to take payments online using a computer.
Consider what programs you’ve gained mastery of, or any credentials you may hold in this area.
ATS-proofing your resume
“ATS” stands for “applicant tracking software.” For about the last 6 months, I’ve been getting updates on this from my fellow copywriting pal, Ally.
Not just copywriters, but anyone who’s searching for work in this challenging market, will find that resume rejections come hard and fast due to the use of ATS, or applicant tracking software.
Did anyone even see your resume? Quite possibly, no. That’s all because of ATS.
Get past the ATS filters
Some things you want to pay attention to that will help you get past the rejection filters include:
Removing all graphic enhancements of your resume. Crazy, right? Yes. Probably over the last 10 years you’ve been encouraged to add a little visual finesse to your resume to keep it from looking like a laundry list. Canva, for instance, offers a ton of industry-specific resume templates that include graphic elements.
Apparently now with ATS dominating the job search, you’re supposed to remove those, including your head shot if you added that.
ATS and job search keywords
In your resume, you also want to really hit hard with your main keywords.
The first opportunity you’ll have to do this is right up at the top with the career objective. If you’re listing a title for yourself, then definitely research what the most common titles are that apply to whatever it is you do.
In my case, as a copywriter and content manager preferring to work from home on a temp basis, “fractional” has become a keyword / buzzword that describes my profession.
I learned this from a gal named Angie, who has pivoted her content writing skills into the world of AI.
Do your resume homework
If you work in a highly specialized industry, then you might want to do your own research for details to focus on when updating your resume.
Doing this will help you get past the tricky ATS filters, so you can catch the attention of hiring managers that may have a really good opportunity waiting for you.
I told my friend to check out some Teamster templates online for her husband, in case there’s something in that field that she might want to follow specifically which I haven’t heard about because it’s not my professional area.
Need resume editing help?
Please note: yes, I am available to spiff up, edit and customize your resume.
(Have we met? I’m Dina the Copywriter.)
I can also help you version a resume if you hope to target different potential career areas.
(Yes, it’s perfectly legit, and even encouraged, to create several different drafts of your resume depending on what job you’re going after which week.)
For resume writing support, contact me here.
Thanks, and happy job hunting.