How should you list your work history, experience, and skills on your résumé, so you get in the “YES” pile and land an interview?
Watch the video for my key recommendations:
I see a lot of résumés that are a jumble of confusion, because people are trying to put their best qualifications at the top of the page, even if they don't belong there.
The other day, I saw a résumé that had “SKILLS” at the top, followed by “LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE” followed by “TEACHING EXPERIENCE.” It took a lot of effort to figure out the person's actual work history.
The facts? They'd done an admin internship a few years ago, and were currently a classroom teacher.
Is that bad? No! But it's confusing if you don't present it clearly.
When a screener is reviewing your résumé, they're looking for the facts—your work history. When your résumé is organized in a confusing way, the reviewer can't find what they're looking for.
When the reviewer is confused, they put your application in the “NO” pile.
So how should you list your leadership experience on your résumé—especially if your best leadership experience isn't your most recent?
- What if you served a term on the leadership committee, but now it's someone else's turn, and you have zero leadership responsibilities at the moment?
- What if you did a great internship a few years ago, but now you're back in a non-leadership classroom role?
If you list it reverse-chronologically, with the newest roles at the top, your best experience may not be at the top of the page…and that's OK.
The first goal of a résumé should be clarity about the basic facts of your work history.
Once you've given the reader what they're looking for—clarity—you can add the good stuff that will make you stand out.
Learn more about how to organize your résumé so you land in the “YES” pile—by downloading The Résumé Blueprint.
