How to Write a Resume 101 in 2023

If you’re like me, no one ever taught you how to write a resume. And if you’re like me, you only learned how when you had to, and when you had to, you realized how much you didn’t know along with how much misinformation there is out there about what you should really do.

I thought I’d pick a fancy template in Canva only to find out that may not be the best approach because of how resumes are processed. Resumes are not manually sorted by people. They’re scanned by machines and the fancy Canva template doesn’t register, I learned from Recruiting Industry veteran Tom Breen. Could this be the reason sending out resumes feels like reaching out into the void awaiting a response and hearing crickets? 

So, how DO you write a resume? It’s easy to want to take the lazy approach and try and pack everything into one resume but that is not the way to go.

If you approach finding a job like a job, you’ll have better luck, that’s what I’ve learned.

Unless you know someone, your resume is the first impression a potential employer has of you. A picture is worth a thousand words, so is your resume! It’s worth putting in the effort on the front end. Even though it’s more work, I recommend a conscientious approach.

What I’ve learned:

DO create a resume for the job you’re applying for rather than trying to include everything you’ve done under the sun on one page that doesn’t relate to what you’re applying for.