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Before you ask, no, this isn’t another quirky personality quiz that you pull from the pages of Cosmopolitan and do during your lunch break. While those are fun, those types of “personality assessments” are usually only good for a few laughs with your girlfriends and a couple of minutes second-guessing the accuracy of your horoscope. 

Below you’ll find a breakdown of the most common “resume personalities” and a few tips for creating a resume that gets you recognized.

• Boring Betty: This resume is basically a word-for-word copy of former job descriptions. Boooorriiinnnggg.

• Vague Vanessa: This resume has very few quantitative details, is loaded with soft skills with no point of reference and shares many of your former job duties without showcasing the actual results.

• Excessive Emily: This resume is overloaded with buzzwords and includes lots of achievements that aren’t relevant for the job at hand.

• Lost Lisa: This resume was created by someone who hasn’t created a resume in 5 years and likely reviewed by a sister or cousin who also had no idea what makes a “good” resume. It still includes a career objective and “References Available Upon Request.”

• Precise Paula: This is the resume you want! It’s keyword-optimized, has lots of quantitative details, and is laced with powerful soft and technical skills through and through. It includes a captivating career summary and gives the reader insight into all of your major accomplishments.

If your resume is looking like anything other than a “Precise Paula”, here are a few tips to help you optimize your resume:

Be visually appealing. This is typically a suggestion that people in creative fields hear; however, it applies to everyone! Employers love to see a nicely formatted resume with a splash color. Not only does it make your resume aesthetically unique from the pile, but it also shows that you have an eye for design and recognize the importance of “presentation.”

Be strategically descriptive. When writing your summary/headline and the descriptions for the positions you’ve held, always be sure to utilize the art of persuasive speech. This doesn’t mean that you should have a 3.5-page resume (please don’t, actually.) However, you should certainly make sure to be thorough enough to highlight all of your accomplishments and strengths in an “entertaining” and impressive way! Remember, this your chance to sell yourself before they even contact you.

Include a portfolio link. Adding a portfolio link to your resume not only makes you look more credible, but it also gives the employer a chance to see your work and learn more about you other than a one-page career capsule. You never know, that could be a make or break factor in you being shortlisted and getting that callback!

Get it reviewed by a professional. As with any piece of writing, whether editorial, fictional, or fact, it’s always best to have another set of eyes look at your draft before finalizing it. Check out our resume services to learn more about how we can help you reach “Precise Paula” status!

Next Steps:

If you need an extra set of eyes on your current resume, book my resume review service. The Resume Review service includes a deep-dive review of your current resume, including feedback on the content, format and overall structure via in-document comments.