Software Engineering :: Career :: Job :: Search :: Training :: Tip #3: Revealing my best resume resources
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Hey Wil,
What if you could add one section to your resume and land more job offers?
You can! But it's probably not a section you've heard about.
I call it a "Highlight Reel" and it goes at the very top of your resume.
Traditionally, the recommendation has been to start your resume with an Objective or a Summary.
But neither of these actually work, because they don't play into what your future employer cares about.
These are short statements where the job seeker shares the "objective" or goal of their job search. For example:
"Entry-level design professional, looking for a full-time position where I can assist in creating amazing visuals for companies that help amplify its brand and align with its mission."
No employer cares about this because they're interested in their needs, not your needs. Resume objectives do absolutely nothing to tell future employers what you bring to the table for them.
These are short paragraphs that summarize a candidates resume. For example:
"Data-driven Marketing Coordinator with 2+ years of experience in digital marketing. Responsible for managing cross-platform marketing campaigns to drives audience growth and high ROI."
While this is closer to achieving the goal of illustrating your value to the employer, it does a pretty awful job of that. Most resume summaries, like the example above, are filled with fluffy buzzwords and provide no tangible way to measure the candidates value.
Times have changed.
If you want to win more interviews off the back of your resume, you need a new approach to your resume that will immediately grab the employers attention and show them exactly what you can do for their team.
Highlight Reels work because they play right into what your employer wants to see when they review a resume.
You've probably heard that recruiters spend an average of ~6 seconds scanning resumes, right?
Why do they do that? And what are they looking for?
Well, the average open role gets about 250-300 applications. Recruiters are the ones reviewing those applications, so the "why" comes down to simple math.
If a recruiter spent 10 minutes reviewing every single resume that came through the door, they'd have to spend 40+ hours just reviewing resumes for each role they're hiring for! That's just not realistic.
So, instead of doing that, they have a process.
They have certain criteria -- skills, keywords, experience, etc. -- in mind for each role, and they spend a few seconds scanning resumes looking for that specific criteria. I call this a "Qualification Scan."
Resumes with the right criteria get put in a pile for a deeper dive and the ones that don't are rejected.
And where do most employers look when they start their Qualification Scan?
At the very top of your resume.
If you're using an Objective or a Summary, you're wasting those critical first few seconds with information that's either not relevant to the employers needs or not detailed enough to make a difference.
Highlight Reels solve that problem by offering employers the exact information they're looking for right at the very top of the resume.
Glad you asked!
A Highlight Reel is a section made up of 3-5 bullets that sits at the very top of your resume. Here's an example:
The first bullet in your highlight reel summarizes your experience and your value in a single sentence.
The middle bullets act as "Case Studies" which illustrate specific projects, outcomes, and experience that directly aligns with your target role.
And the final bullet is your chance to layer in any supplemental value such as awards, certifications, volunteering, stretch projects, extra curriculars, or anything else that will make your value jump off the page.
Let's break down each of those three sections in more detail so you know exactly how to spin up a job-winning Highlight Reel:
The very first bullet in your Resume Summary should tell your reader:
- Your area of expertise / background (i.e. Sales Leader, UX Designer, Customer Success Manager)
- Your total years of experience in the field
- A value-driven pitch that tells them the type of value that you've brought to previous companies and clients
Your introductory bullet, including the value-driven pitch, should act as the 10,000 foot view of your experience. You want to sell people on the overarching value you've delivered with big, impressive results — then you can break down the details in your Case Study bullets.
Here's an example:
Case Study bullets let you flesh out the experience that you summarized in your introductory bullet. You want to aim to have 2-3 of them in your resume summary.
These case studies are where you're going to show off the tangible value and experience that sets you apart from the competition. The key to a great case study bullet is selling your value, not summarizing the actions you took.
Anyone can be "Responsible For" something and anyone can "Manage" something. That doesn't mean they're good at their jobs. If you want to win, you need to share the actions you took and the outcomes you drove. For example:
❌ Responsible for designing new interface for fintech SaaS app
✅ Designed and developed new UI/UX for fintech SaaS app with 20,000 monthly users and $5M in ARR
See the difference?
The last bullet in your resume summary is your opportunity to include anything else that might be valuable, but wasn't included in your bullets above.
Here are some good examples of things you can include:
- Awards you've won
- Languages you speak (if you speak multiple languages)
- Non-role related teams you lead (volunteering, culture, etc)
- Side projects that relate / add value to your target role
- Skill building you're working on
The goal of the final bullet is to add additional value that helps round out your experience as a candidate.
Finally, let's take a look at this framework in action. Here are 3 examples of Highlight Reels for different roles, see if you can spot the strategies above in action:
Example #1: Partner Manager Highlight Reel
Example #2: Graphic Design Highlight Reel
Example #3: Data Science Highlight Reel
Phew! That was a lot of info!
Take some time to reread and digest everything from this note, and from the other two tips we spoke about over the past 5 days.
And, while resumes are a super important part of the process, a great resume along isn't enough to get you hired. Applying online is still a huge black hole where your chances of getting through are slim.
I'm going to give you a day to process all of this, then I'm going to start sharing some strategies you can leverage to pick and choose where you land job interviews without applying online.
You're going to get five tips over the course of five days covering:
- The exact methods and tactics I used to change careers and land jobs at Google, Microsoft, & Twitter without any "traditional experience"
- The most effective strategies my clients have leveraged to lands at the world's best companies without applying online
- The simple relationship building technique I've used to connect with people like Satya Nadella, Arianna Huffington, and Neil Patel (to name a few)
- The process I leveraged to make the jump from a $60,000 salary to an all in comp package of $185,000 in less than 12 months
Keep an eye on your inbox for Cultivated Strategy #1!
Be well,
Austin