Recruiter/Hiring Manager Perspective on Resumes



A Hiring Manager’s Eye

Over the last 13 years, I’ve looked at hundreds of resumes. I’ve trained friends to screen their own and provided feedback for countless others. This Resume Guide will give you an insider’s look into how hiring managers think on a day-to-day basis. Beyond that, it’ll give you and your resume the best chance to pass an individual screening process.

The point of a resume is to get you interviews. Sure, it takes time to prepare. But a single approving glance from a hiring manager can score you valuable face-time. As a hiring manager, we have two main goals:

1. Find the best candidates: Typically, we scan 5-8 areas to see if the candidate is what we’re looking for: location, industry, function, level, recent experience, education & turnover. We also keep an eye out for things like formatting or spelling mistakes.

2. Get through the resumes quickly: When a job opens, there are hundreds of resumes to get through. That’s why you’ve only got about 15 seconds to make an impression.

Within those 15 seconds, we usually file the resume into one of three buckets:

1. Trash (50-60%): Your experience clearly doesn’t match the job requirements. Or, you’ve made very basic mistakes (see section A and B for details). This may be a quick decision for us.

2. Maybe (10-20%): You’re in the maybe pile for one of two reasons: you have some of the relevant skills/experience OR you have quite a lot, but your resume doesn’t present them well. Either way, you aren’t a strong case, but could be considered depending on the number of interview spots.

3. Yes (10-20%): You’ve got most or all of the qualifications we’re looking for in the job opening OR you have the best possible set of qualifications in this pile of candidates. It’s easy for us to see why you may be a good fit and we’d like to bring you in for an interview.

Resume Guide – Table of Content

Everything you need to improve your resume and get more interviews.

How to Use the Resume Guide: to modify an existing resume or write a new one

Main Content

A. Recommended resume format: short, interesting & polished

B. Basics in avoiding the trash bucket

C. Grammar & sentence structure: key for describing your experiences

D. Power of relevant content: An executive summary is a must

E. Additional tips and areas to consider

Appendix

I. Resume template: from the Wharton School of Business

II. Resume content examples: executive summary and experience description

III. List of action verbs: by skill categories

IV. Resume feedback: a sample email of how to ask for feedback

V. Recruiting process – applying online: an insider look

How to Use the Resume Guide:

Common Scenarios:

Situation 1 - "If I have time to make one change to my resume, what should it be?"

 

Look to the executive summary, the most important part of your resume. If we’re in a hurry, that’s our go-to section. We’ll use our 15 or so seconds reading it to decide whether we should read on.

• Focus on Section D of this Resume Guide and follow the executive summary tips there.

• Check Appendix II for effective samples.

Situation 2 - "I’ve got a solid resume, but I know there’s still room to improve."

• Start by printing out a few things: this Resume Guide, your actual resume, and a real job opening you’re interested in.

• In the job description, circle 10-20 words or phrases that best describe what they’re looking for in a candidate.

• Now, read through the Resume Guide from Section A through Section E.

o You can check off each item you think your resume covers already

o Star all items and areas your resume didn't cover and you’d like to improve on. 

Situation 3 - "I’d like to start a new resume from scratch."

If this is the case, it’s best to start with a resume template (download Word doc here). It’ll also help to have a printed copy of a job opening you’re interested in.

 

First up:

• Scan through Section A through E of this Resume Guide. This should help give you an idea of what a resume can help you achieve.

• Open the resume template. Delete the Appendix title line, header and footer, and you’re ready to go.

• Fill out the easy stuff first:

o Name, address, email, phone, etc.

o Education

o Personal interests

• If you’ve done any community service work, or anything else outside of work that shows teamwork, leadership, creativity etc., then fill out the Additional Information section too.

Next up, Experience:

• Again, start with the easy stuff—company name, description, title, and your time spent at each place. Skip the detailed bullets for now, and list all experience in chronological order with the most recent job experience first.

• Read section A.3, A4, section C, D.2, D.3 and D.4 to understand the purpose of each bullet.

• Now, print out Appendix III

o Circle all the possible action verbs that describe your work experience at this company.

o Brainstorm 3 to 5 bullets—starting with some of the best action verbs you circled that describe different aspects of your job experience at each company.

o Draft sentences in the resume based on this brainstorm.

• In the job description you printed out, circle 10-20 words or phrases that best describe what they’re looking for in a candidate. You can also write down some synonyms or related words to those you circled.

• Compare what’s in your resume to what you’ve circled. See any gaps? Something they want that isn’t on your resume? If so, think about whether you have that experience and edit your resume’s bullets accordingly. You don’t need everything they require, but matching up most of your relevant experiences is a good strategy.

The Summary Section:

• Read Section D.1 and follow the tips in order to add or modify your summary.

• Refer to Appendix II for sample, effective summaries.

• Be prepared—a summary may look short, but it takes time to get it right.

Now you’ve got a draft of your resume. Take a break!

Final Steps:

• Use the Resume Guide from Section A through Section E as a checklist to identify gaps and correct simple mistakes.

o You can check off each item you think your resume covers already

o Star all items and areas your resume didn't cover and you’d like to improve on. 

• Lastly, ask for feedback from someone else. See Appendix IV on who to ask and how to ask.

A resume takes time to write well. But trust me, it will be worth it when you get that call for an interview.

Main Content

A. Recommended resume format: A resume is a sales tool. It needs to capture our attention quickly and get to the point. It needs to be visually pleasing, and it has to have sufficient detail (but not too much). Here are some general rules of thumb:

1. Pay attention to look & feel. Just like you don’t want to show up to an interview in tennis shoes and messy hair, you also don’t want your resume to look disorganized or messy to us. As hiring managers, we may ignore this if you’re a rock star, but for 99% of the applicants, these kinds of mistakes will land your resume in the trash. Pay attention to the following:

a. Avoid big white spaces. If you’re lucky, an actual person will read your resume, and chances are he/she will want to read something professional and well prepared. Excess white spaces should be avoided altogether, and probably mean you’re low on content or the font is too small.

b. Format consistently and don’t over-format. If you bold the company names and italicize your job title, then make sure that’s how you do it for every company and every job title. Overuse of italics, underlining and bolding can look chaotic and disorganized.

2. Keep your resume 1-2 pages long. Given how much time we have for the screening process, shorter is always better. If you’ve got 0-5 years of experience, one page is plenty. For those with more than five years experience, two pages may be appropriate.

3. Use 2-5 bullets for each experience. Paragraphs are too much work. Bullets take less time to scan and grab our interest quickly. Use 2-5 bullets per job experience. A single bullet looks amateurish. More than five is just overwhelming.

4. Write 1-2 lines per bullet. Run on sentences also are too much work. Once we feel confused, we move on to the next resume. So write only 1-2 sentences in each bullet and remember to stay concise and stick to the point!

B. Basics in avoiding the trash bucket.

We’ve got little time and many applicants. As soon as we see any of the following mistakes, we immediately jump to the next resume.

1. Must have: full name, contact information (email/phone), list of experiences, education. Also include the years in which you worked somewhere. I also recommend the year you graduated, although this is slightly less important.

2. No spelling mistakes: a simple mistake like “fast paste” or “cross-cell” will land your resume in the trash. Spell check doesn’t catch everything, so you’ve got to check your resume manually before you’re finished.

3. No grammar mistakes: Having English as your second language is no excuse—if you want to work in the U.S., your resume should have sound English construction. A “bachelorette degree in computers” does not exactly convey intelligence. If you don’t see what’s wrong with this phrase, then definitely ask a friend to look at your resume and correct English mistakes.

4. No small fonts: Resume sections must be at least 10pt font and should always be somewhere between 10 & 12 point font. It’s hard for anyone to read a resume smaller than that. Your goal is to encourage people to read your resume—not to cramp everything in on one page.

C. Grammar & sentence structure: Use vivid, specific words to describe your experience. Focus on “how well” you did the job instead of just listing your responsibilities. We want to be able to visualize your experience to judge whether or not you’re a good fit.

1. Start bullets with action verbs. We typically scan left side and down when reviewing a resume. So choosing good verbs to start a bullet is important for you to catch our attention. Words like “analyzed”, “researched” and “managed” are good action verbs. Things like “worked” or “helped” are too generic and don’t specify what you did and should therefore be avoided. For a complete list of action verbs, see Appendix III

2. Quantify experience and results. With hundreds of resumes, it helps us if you give out specifics. A sentence like “Managed a project that delivered on time and on budget” does not tell us enough. Instead, say “Manage a team of three people and a $500K cross-functional project on time and on budget. Initial results show cost reduction by 25%” tells us a lot more. The numbers catch our attention.

3. In each bullet, cover what you did, how important it was, and what the result was. This may be scanned at an initial screening, but it’s read more carefully during the actual interview. Here’s an example of a good bullet: “Developed and managed 15 ongoing content-partner relationships – initiated, negotiated, and signed 4 new partners in the last 5 months.”

• What you did: “Developed and managed content partner relationships…”

• Importance: “15 partner relationships”

• Results: “…ongoing relationships…signed 4 new partners in the last 5 months.”

4. Avoid superlatives. By this, we’re talking about words like: “great”, “extremely” and “super.” These are considered empty words or biased self-judgments that take up space on a resume and don’t add to your qualifications.

5. Minimize acronyms. Everyone knows what MBA and CRM stand for, but we won’t understand company specific acronyms or technical acronyms like UAT (User Acceptance Testing). When in doubt, spell the words out or use more general terms to describe your experience

D. Power of relevant content: Most importantly, your resume should quickly convey why you’re a good candidate for the job.

1. Include a summary. Think of this as your “Elevator Pitch” on paper. Everyone should have one leading their resume, even if you just got out of college. You can call it “Profile, Summary, Executive Summary, or Experience Summary.” For summary examples, see Appendix II.

a. Use bullets and keep it short. Paragraphs take longer to read, so bullets are encouraged. Each bullet should be 1-2 lines long.

b. Included 3-5 bullets of relevant experience. The key areas we look for are: level/years of experience, functional skills (both hard skills like accounting or segmentation and soft skills like teamwork, leadership, etc.), industry experience, education level, etc.

c. Use key terms or synonyms found in the job posting if you have those qualifications.

d. Present yourself favorably but don’t lie. You need to be able to support resume claims during the interview.

e. Expect this section to take some time. While it’s short in length, it takes time to craft properly.

1. Tailor to that job. A resume is most effective when it’s tailored to a particular job opening. We don’t want to see a generic resume, or worse yet, one that contains a laundry list of your experiences/hobbies. If two applicants have a similar skill set and one makes it easier for us to review, guess who gets the interview?

a. Do this: Find 10-20 key terms from the job opening description.

b. Use those key terms (or their synonyms) to describe experiences in your resume where applicable.

c. To avoid being overwhelmed, create a full-blown, detailed resume and keep it as a baseline template. Then, use that template to customize a version as it relates to the job you’re applying to (see D2a-b above). This will save you valuable time.

2. Put enough detail only to “wet the appetite”. You don’t need to put every single detail of your experience in your resume. Instead, only include enough detail so the company has room to learn more through an interview.

3. Avoid distracting content that serves no purpose. Since you only have a short amount of time, make sure what you include is relevant to that particular job.

a. Don’t include an “Objective” section. Rarely does it provide any insightful information about you or your skill set. Instead, it takes up space and time.

b. Do not include bizarre information about yourself. “Winner of hot dog eating contest” isn’t relevant.

c. Don’t include minor experiences. Your summer experience as a receptionist at a dentist office is only relevant to a college grad who wants to show they have good people skills. If you already have business experience that demonstrates your people skills, then leave the receptionist bit off your resume.

d. Do not include references. No one wants their contact information listed openly on a resume. On top of this, obvious phrases like “references upon request” don’t need to be said.

E. Additional tips and areas to consider

1. Include a personal interest section: At first, it may seem like this isn’t relevant. But it can catch my eye if I happen to have the same interest like ‘salsa dancing’. This section may not help get an interview, but during an interview, it can serve as common ground for conversation

2. Include community activities. These activities help demonstrate leadership, teamwork, creativity, and initiative. On top of this, they add color and personality to your resume. And much like your “interests”, they can serve as great conversation topics.

3. Don’t use functional resumes. I’ve asked a few recruiters whether it’s advisable to submit a functional resume (where you list your work history first with company, title, date, etc, and then aggregate your experiences by key categories) and most say they don’t like it because it’s hard for them to follow.

4. Have a LinkedIn profile. And make sure it’s consistent with your resume, although it shouldn’t read exactly the same. Beef up your LinkedIn profile with recommendations and include your LinkedIn URL on your resume. (See the resume template of where to put your LinkedIn URL.)

5. Craft a relevant email subject line. Recruiters get hundreds, sometimes thousands, of resumes. If the subject line reads “Position Title + Years of Experience + Industry Experience + Education” we’d be more apt to look at that one first. You would have already validated the first 3 or 4 bullets of the job description right there in the subject line. And if that’s too targeted, then generalize the subject line a bit and indicate “Position Title + Years of Experience + One relevant expertise”

6. Always ask for feedback. Even though I’m very good at giving resume feedback to others, even when it comes to my own resume, I’ll still ask others for feedback. Feedback from others is more objective and identifies gaps in your resume that you cannot easily see. Go to Appendix IV to see an email example of how to ask for feedback.

Good luck out there!

- Lei

Appendix I: Resume Template

FIRST and LAST NAME

Full address here

Phone number | email address | your linked in profile URL if you have one

PROFILE

• In this section, list 3-5 key bullets describing why you are qualified for the job. Bold key areas

• Something about your core skill sets, year of experience (use verbiage/synonyms from job description)

• Some more things about your additional skills and/or industry experience

• Something about your leadership and team working skills

• Something about your education

EXPERIENCE

Name of the company you worked for - – put a short description here if it’s not well known City, State

Title of your position here 2007-present

• Start with action verb and include results or potential results if possible

• Start with action verb and quantify effort

• Use two to five bullets

Name of the company you worked for – put a short description here if it’s not well known City, State

Title of your position here 1999 -2007

Name of subsection – use subsection if you have a lot experience at one company

• Start with action verb and include results or potential results if possible

• Start with action verb and quantify effort

• Use two to five bullets

Name of subsection – use logical breakdowns like the ones listed in the job opening

• Start with action verb and include results or potential results if possible

• Start with action verb and quantify effort

• Use two to five bullets

Name of subsection – have only two to five subsections

• Start with action verb and include results or potential results if possible

• Use two to five bullets

EDUCATION

Name of your graduate school City, State

Put degree here + any honors + GPA if it’s better than 3.0 1999 – 2001

Any key school activities here

Name of your undergraduate school City, State

Put degree here + any honors + GPA if it’s better than 3.0 1990 – 1994

Any key school activities here

ADDITONAL INFORMATION

Community Leadership

Role X at Organization A, short description of the organization 2005 – present

Role Y at Organization B, short description of the organization 2006 – 2009

Personal – put your citizenship here, other languages you can speak and hobbies like cooking, salsa dancing etc…

Appendix II: Resume Content Examples

Executive Summary Sample 1 (10+ years experience)

PROFILE

• 10+ years of marketing, customer experience, and strategy experience at Company X and Y in helping senior-level executives solve complex customer-induced business problems.

• Proven ability in developing/implementing customer insights, analytics, marketing strategies, and campaigns to produce results for Fortune 500 companies in A, B, and C industries.

• Strong quantitative/analytical skills that drive results – known as a creative problem solver and someone who can always deliver results efficiently and effectively.

• Extensive leadership experience: has managed up to 25 people and five projects simultaneously; mentored over a dozen members of staff; experienced in managing multiple marketing agencies.

• Distinctive educational background: MBA graduate with honors from School X and Bachelor of Science degree in Major A from University Y.

Executive Summary Sample 2 (just out of college)

SUMMARY

• 1 year of business experience in sales and marketing of computer and electronic products.

• Known as a self-starter, effective team player, and a quick learner from three summer internships at company A, B, and C.

• Graduated with honors in Quantitative Economics from University X.

• Proficient in all Microsoft Office Tools, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Experience Description Example

Company X – venture-backed startup offering free x, y, & z service to Bloggers San Francisco, CA

Account and Community Manager 2009 - present

• Developed and managed 15 ongoing content partner relationships – Initiated, negotiated, and signed 4 new partners in the last 5 months.

• Maintained 5 major blog network relationships and defined revenue share co-marketing plans

• Initiated and implemented company’s social media strategy (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, bookmarking sites, blog forums etc.) from the ground up, resulting in double digit growth each month.

• Wrote regular newsletter content, blog posts and press releases to drive awareness and engagement.

• Created sales and marketing performance dashboard; analyzed monthly results and developed recommendations.

Appendix III: List of Action Verbs

|management skills |communication skills |research/analytical skills |clerical/detailed skills |creative skills |

|analyzed |addressed |analyzed |approved |conceptualized |

|assigned |arbitrated |Assessed |arranged |created |

|chaired |arranged |collected |catalogued |designed |

|consolidated |authored |critiqued |classified |developed |

|coordinated |corresponded |diagnosed |collected |directed |

|delegated |developed |evaluated |compiled |established |

|developed |directed |examined |dispatched |fashioned |

|directed |drafted |extracted |executed |founded |

|evaluated |edited |identified |generated |illustrated |

|executed |enlisted |inspected |implemented |Initiated |

|improved |Facilitated |interpreted |inspected |instituted |

|increased |formulated |interviewed |monitored |integrated |

|Led |influenced |investigated |operated |introduced |

|managed |interpreted |organized |organized |invented |

|organized |lectured |researched |prepared |originated |

|planned |mediated |reviewed |organized |performed |

|prioritized |moderated |summarized |prepared |planned |

|produced |motivated |surveyed |processed |revitalized |

|recommended |negotiated |systematized |purchased |shaped |

|reviewed |persuaded | |recorded | |

|strengthened |promoted | |retrieved | |

|supervised |publicized | |screened | |

| |reconciled | |scheduled | |

| |recruited | |specified | |

| |spoke | |systematized | |

| |translated | |tabulated | |

| |wrote | |validated | |

  

|financial skills |teaching skills |helping skills |technical skills |

|administered |adapted |assessed |assembled |

|allocated |advised |assisted |built |

|analyzed |clarified |clarified |calculated |

|appraised |coached |coached |computed |

|audited |communicated |counseled |designed |

|balanced |coordinated |educated |devised |

|budgeted |counseled |expedited |engineered |

|calculated |educated |facilitated |fabricated |

|computed |enabled |familiarized |maintained |

|developed |encouraged |guided |operated |

|forecasted |evaluated |referred |overhauled |

|managed |explained |rehabilitated |programmed |

|marketed |facilitated |represented |remodeled |

|planned |guided | |repair |

|projected |informed | |solved |

|researched |initiated | |trained |

| |instructed | |upgraded |

| |persuaded | | |

| |set goals | | |

| |stimulated | | |

Appendix IV: Resume Feedback: Sample Email

No one wants to give feedback on an overtly poor resume. It’s hard to know where to start, and it looks like you aren’t trying and want them to do all the work. So, before asking anyone for feedback, make sure you have a chance to review your resume using this Resume Guide.

Remember, it’s important to ask for feedback, but only from those you think have more expertise in resume writing than you, or at the least have a uniquely valuable perspective. Everyone has an opinion if you ask them. You’re likely to get different, possibly contradicting opinions as well. It’s up to you to judge what you want to implement based on their feedback.

Here’s an example email of what you can send when you ask someone for feedback. Obviously, you should put it in your own tone (or customize based on your audience). Hopefully this gives you an idea of how and what to ask:

EXAMPLE:

Since you have a lot of experience with successful job searching, I’d love your feedback on my resume. Please find two documents attached: 1) my resume and 2) a description of the job opening I am applying for. In particular, I was hoping for feedback in the following areas:

• Do you think I’d be a good fit for this job? Please explain.

• From reading my resume, what’s your impression of my experience (what are my strong points?)

• From reading my resume, what questions or concerns come to mind? Why?

• In what key areas can I improve my resume?

• Any other feedback or tips?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to look things over. Please let me know the most convenient way to get your feedback. I can wait for your email, or we can talk by phone or meet for coffee. Whatever works for you. Thank you once again. I look forward to your feedback and advice.

Appendix V: Recruiting Process: Applying Online – an Insider Look

If you’re applying online (company website or general job posting), resumes are typically funneled to a database system, then to an assigned recruiter. This is before it gets to the hiring manager (especially if you’re applying to a Fortune 500 company).

The recruiter essentially has to sell a candidate to the hiring manager, so he/she needs to feel confident that they are representing a quality candidate. Key selling components in recruiters’ eyes include:

• Strong background on paper (companies you’ve worked for, relatable industries being a plus).

• If you make it to the phone interview stage with a recruiter, make sure you answer questions directly and concisely.

• If the recruiter sees or hears specific examples of experiences as it relates to what they’re looking for, they’ll be proactive in moving you to the next stage, using the information you shared to “sell you” to the hiring manager. If the recruiter doesn’t get that information from the candidate, then the candidate has lost his/her advocacy.

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