The 7 C's of High-Performing Resumes

A cartoon caption read, “My resume is just a list of things I never want to do again!”
​I laughed, but it gave me cause for concern.

If your resume is a list of the things you never want to do again in your lifetime, how do you expect to land a job doing the things you love?

Your resume is a vehicle to take you to your dream job, located at the intersection of the employer’s needs and the work you are passionate about doing.

Interview-generating resumes have seven common characteristics—what I call the 7 C’s of high-performing resumes.

1.  Contemporary resume design
Create visual appeal with a crisp, clean resume design, conservative use of color, and classy fonts to grab the reader’s attention upon first glance. 

2.  Clear focus
Target your resume for the next step in your career path. Increase your resume’s performance by customizing each resume to a specific professional role. Laser-focused resumes outperform vague, generic resumes by as much as 10X.

3.  Consideration of the employer’s needs
Use the prospective employer’s requirements to form the framework for your resume.
 
4.  Captivating hook with a unique professional brand
Develop a value proposition statement that connects with the company’s mission and specific needs. 

5.  Correlation between your professional strengths and the job the employer needs to be done
Write a concise work history that proves you can do the job based upon successful past performance.
 
6.  Concrete examples of key initiatives and results
Show the size/scope of projects you have led and the quantifiable benefits to the company in terms of revenue generated, dollars saved, or productivity gained.
 
7.  Coherent writing that is well organized and error-free
Review the overall organization and progression of ideas. Condense lengthy content into the most relevant and engaging talking points. Delete redundant wording. Edit judiciously for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Banish boring resumes filled with tasks you hate to do. Use these seven steps to write a high-impact resume that positions you as the best candidate for that once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity.

Do you like the ideas contained in this blog post, but don’t have the time or energy to implement them? Put Written by a Pro’s writing/editing team to work for you.