Let’s start by understanding the purpose of a resume. To land an interview. That’s it. Templates have been around for a long time (at least since word processing software has been a thing) and some are rather… creative. I’ve seen all kinds of graphics, videos, nonsensical rankings, lots of noise and unnecessary fluff that can actually detract from the resume’s main purpose.
But do you NEED a template? This is incredibly subjective and depends on your personal level of comfort in creating a doc. Some folks may stare at a blank page and not know where to begin. Others get completely thrown by having too much structure.
I’m DEFINITELY in the latter camp.
My writing and content creation style follows 3 simple steps: Write – Edit – Format
✍️ Write
Just start typing! Here is where I pull up a blank doc and just start data dumping everything I can remember about my job duties and accomplishments. Don’t worry about misspellings, or bad grammar. We’ll get to that. Right now, we’re just WRITING. Get all that info out and onto the page.
✍️ Edit
Remember that bad grammar and spelling we ignored? Now go fix it. Make adjustments to the content and review the specifics. Focus on measurable achievements, checking for numbers, percentages, or any other “proof” of the amazing work you’ve done. We can almost see the finish line!
✍️ Format
Once your content is where you want it, now you make it pretty. This is where you can adjust your font size, add bullet points, bold or italics – anything that makes your resume easy to read. This may also be a good time to grab a template you like and either mimic it, or copy / paste your revised content into the format you prefer.
It is ALWAYS helpful to sanity check your final version with recruiters and business leaders in your industry who can speak to any nuances preferred (or required!) such as portfolio links, documentation. Make sure you’re not missing anything specific to the kind of work you want to do that folks will expect to see on a resume.
If you’re completely baffled by this whole process and are looking for paid, professional help check out my list of resume writers and coaches HERE.
Check out this week’s AMA video on this topic HERE.
