HOW TO WRITE A DROOL-WORTHY RESUME (EVEN IF YOU'VE NEVER HAD A SHINY JOB TITLE)

One sticking point the people I help come up against against all the time (ALL. THE. TIME) is their resume.

Either it's not impressive enough, it has weird gaps that need to be explained away, or it just doesn't come together in a way that makes them seem hire-able, especially for a role in high tech.

The truth is, your resume has about 3 seconds to make a first impression on the person who's gonna be sorting through all the applicants.

If it doesn't grab their attention (in a good way), it's off to the "Nope" pile.

It's not that they're trying to be mean or purposely not give you a chance; they've just got SO many candidates on their hands, and the process is SO time-consuming for them, that they HAVE to have an efficient way of selecting the top few that will make it to the next step.

So they use the process of elimination.

--
But for you, not having the attention-grabbing, mouth-watering resume means you're back to square one.

Maybe you'll have better luck with the next company you apply for... But maybe not.

And as you keep getting rejected (or worse, just not hearing back from them), you might start to wonder if there's something wrong with YOU. You start believing that there's something flawed about YOU, and that's why you're not getting hired.

It can be a VERY frustrating, dark place for someone so hell-bent on making a career transition.

--
The good news is, that for most of you out there -- it's got nothing to do with you. You ARE enough. But your resume, and the job-seeking process it's a part of, are lacking.

To be honest, there's so much more to getting the job (at the right salary, with the right conditions, and at the right company) than just a great resume.

But it definitely helps.

So keep in mind that these tips will take your resume to the next level, but a career transformation doesn't happen with a resume edit alone (I could do a whole training on this as this is SUCH a big and fatal misconception).

--
But keeping that caveat in mind, here's the framework I use to make sure a resume really, truly shines:

1. Understand your audience. Do your research to know what they're looking for, and capture that in a few key words.
2. Let those key phrases guide you as you write your resume to make sure that everything that's in it, is ALIGNED with what they want.
   
   

This basically allows you to "get" what kind of person they need you to be to solve whatever problem they want solved, and then write your resume to represent the parts of you that are that person.

Again, even the best resume is just a tiny piece of the puzzle. But now at least that piece can shine. ✨

--
If you want to let me know what resume woes you're dealing with, just drop it in the comments below.

By the way... I run a Facebook group that is ALL ABOUT breaking into high tech. Almost every day I share tips and lessons learned. And once or twice a week I go in there and give a live training. It's a great place to engage with like-minded people in the same situation. If you'd like to be a part of our community, you can request to join here.