3 Easy Ways to Refresh Your Résumé

Ah, the résumé. The one-page – yes, just one – window to your career soul. The document that will likely join hundreds of others in response to a job opening that’s just perfect for you.

How do you get your résumé into the hands of a hiring manager – and then on to your potential new boss?

Executive Coach Carrie Cahill of Fortune Management specializes in creating effective résumés that result in interviews and job offers. We asked her to share her top three résumé writing tips:

1) Start with a strong summary statement.

Put your best foot forward with a short, compelling professional profile sentence at the beginning of your résumé – something that gives a clear understanding of who you are and how you’re going to show up.

“Use words that are true about you,” Carrie says. “Perhaps you’re ‘exceptional at creating alignment within an organization’ or ‘extraordinarily strong at building cohesion.’ Or, you can take a slightly different approach. Marissa Mayer’s summary simply states: ‘Business Woman and Proud Geek.’ She uses a headline to show you who she is.”

2) Use keywords and power words.
Before landing in a hiring manager’s hands, your résumé will likely pass through a scanning program that searches for specific keywords. You’ll find those keywords in the job description. Make sure you use them.

“People hate using keywords because they’re used over and over,” Carrie says. “But the hiring manager uses keywords in a job description for a purpose. If you want the job, you have to customize your résumé with these keywords so that it will pass through the scanning process.”

Carrie also recommends studying the company’s website and digging into quarterly and annual reports. “You want to use language that’s important to the organization,” she says. “When you demonstrate that you understand what’s driving their business and how you can impact their metrics, you’ll definitely put yourself ahead of your competition.”

And choose your words wisely. Words like organized, oversaw, produced, built and launched are far more powerful than simply saying that you led a project. “You’ve got to articulate the value you bring – and how you bring others along with you,” Carrie advises.

3) Stick to one page.
Thirty seconds – that’s all you have to capture and keep a hiring manager’s attention. Carrie strongly suggests that you be selective and keep your résumé to one page. There’s no need to list every work experience you’ve ever had. Instead, match your most relevant experiences and qualifications to the job description and put those up top.

And those plum jobs from back in the day? Carrie warns against listing anything earlier than 2013. “The state of technology has changed so rapidly,” she says. “You may have done amazing things, but if you did them more than seven years ago, they’re irrelevant. Your résumé has to show that you’re on point with today’s technology and the new ways of working. You have to show that you’re responsive to change. They want to see what you’ve done lately.”

You’re gorgeous – no doubt about it! But don’t include your photo. Carrie says companies are much more cognizant now about avoiding any bias or possible discrimination claims. If you include your photo, the hiring manager will have to cut it off or use a marker to block it out. Don’t make anyone muck up your beautiful masterpiece with scissors or a Sharpie!

Carrie also recommends leaving off your college graduation date. Hiring managers only care that you have a degree – not when you earned it.

Bonus Tip: The Thank You Note Will Set You Apart
While cover letters may be a thing of the past, Carrie still recommends them as a good way to demonstrate your writing capabilities. Far more important though, she says, is following up every interview with a thank you note.

“A well-crafted thank you note offers a great opportunity to show off your soft skills,” Carrie says. “If the interviewer shares something of a personal nature about working for the company, use that. You could say, ‘Thank you for sharing your passion around xxxxxx. I can see why yyyy and zzzz are going to be critical levers to move to the next stage.’

“You want to show that you listened deeply and that you’re able to tie something bigger to what you’ve heard,” Carrie adds. “That’s what hiring managers are looking for. They want to see that you’re articulate, that you can create connections and that you’re a great fit for the company’s culture. When it comes down to it, after your résumé, it’s your soft skills that will make the most difference in landing the job.”

Get firsthand advice from Carrie during our Create the Career (and Life) You Deserve program as part of Watermark's Weekend for Women at 1440 Multiversity, Sept. 14-16. Carrie will share her résumé-writing expertise along with top tips on how to turn job interviews into job offers.