How to Produce a Powerful, Custom Resume Quickly
simplify your process so you can get to work
I remember well the frustration of my post-college months, hunting down leads and reading through requirements. I submitted the same, generic resume that I’m sure the HR departments had seen a thousand times before with only the cover letter customized — if you could call it that. I really just filled in a different company name, the appropriate title or position, and tweaked a few details here and there.
I landed a frustrating, dead-weight, entry-level job after three months of searching and over three hundred applications. Since then, I’ve made the effort to learn how to tell my story more clearly and efficiently to more people with less effort.
Your resume is your record of how you work and who you have worked for. More importantly, it’s the ticket to a job.
Often, resumes molder in a corner until we are in need of their services. We hate facing down our insecurities, and our recorded achievements seem so thin, so much paper. We fail to keep them updated because we think of them as gate passes instead of the cover of our life’s work.
Do you have a resource on hand so you don’t forget any details, or do you just use your resume from last time?
your resume is your story
A resume tells all the relevant details about how you have added value and been productive in the public sphere, whether you started young or are just breaking in your first pair of work shoes.
You want to efficiently communicate where you are coming from and where you plan to go, how they fit into your story and how you fit into theirs. An employer will be keen on knowing how those fit together, and seeing specific interest from you in their company.
It will include current and prior jobs of course, but also volunteering and community activities. Still not everything you have done applies to each job. Beyond the essentials — name, contact info, references and how to contact them, so on — each story you tell will have to be sculpted to your target.
So how do we make this sculpting efficient?
how to customize your story quickly
Allow your process to filter down from organized information that is not presentable into a tight, custom resume that will appeal to your target. Do not try to make a one-size fits all that you cram the kitchen sink into — it makes you easy to ignore.
1. Create Your Master List
On its own sheet of paper, list everything you’ve done that you could conceivably put onto a resume. This is your master list: Skills, experience, awards, education, languages, hobbies, everything. If you would consider doing an activity again or make that skill or experience available for hire, jot it down.
2. Select Your Target
Then select the first job opening you are targeting. For that job, go down your master list and rank each entry on your master list from 1–3:
- directly and extremely relevant to this position
- partly applies to this position
- does not relate closely to this position
3. Compose the Summary
Look over this curated list, focusing on the 1’s. Use them as the foundation and inspiration to compose a 50-word summary of your relevance to your potential employer’s needs. This is a quick pitch that presents you as a legitimate candidate, which moves you out of the slush pile and into serious consideration. This is important because they will be looking at many applicants and you need to establish your professionalism and legitimacy as quickly as possible to avoid being overlooked.
4. Write Your Pitch
After making it past the first round with a powerful opening, you should write 150–250 words about why you want to be a part of their operation. Ideally this will fit into three straightforward points.
These points should be personal and specific, showing how your goals line up with theirs in terms of lifestyle, personal growth, skills, and ambitions. Obviously, we look for work to make money so only include that if you are shifting lanes for legitimate reasons and can demonstrate those reasons brilliantly.
5. Tell Them Your Story
The last thing you should produce is a 250–300 word summary of your journey so far, ending with your excitement to add this position as a part of your life. Demonstrate your ability to learn, the key elements that drive you and draw out your best, and how this position would encourage you to grow.
This is important because if they read this far they will be looking for realism about how you would do the work, so demonstrating a clear grasp of their requirements for the work you will be doing is key.
One of the best things you can do during this section is drop the name of someone who recommended you apply: Doing your homework on the company by asking an employee what it’s like to work there if you really want this job will go a long way to put you above someone who just saw an ad and applied.
6. Make the Arrangement Tasteful
Then include relevant references for the 1’s and as many 2’s as fit on the page. Arranging this data and evidence is up to you, though most career fields have established expectations that you should research and pay attention to. Ideally, this will fit on either one page front and back, or with the writing on the first page and evidence on page 2.
core concept
Master List -> Target Selection -> Summary -> Pitch -> Story -> Arrange
…and then send it off. You have better things to do with your life than nitpick insecurities.
By maintaining a master file that is not shaped towards one job, you can quickly create a custom, powerful resume when you see an opportunity come by. It serves as a nice reminder of your journey as well, however often you look at it — I recommend once every six months.
Best of all, you don’t have to pin your hopes on each job you apply for, because you haven’t sunk your mental and emotional energy into “updating your resume” for that specific job — or fret because you made a generic one to submit to a dozen places.
This methodology will help you turn out high-quality applications you can be proud of. By building your resume around your story, you create a connection and get them a clear picture of what it would be like to have you in their workplace. Since you’re aiming at places that are natural to your talents and cultural needs, this will be appealing to your future bosses and coworkers.
Even more so if you can portray yourself as brilliant along the way…
