Ten Suggestions about Resumes
Suggestion 1
Curate
If your resume is intended to help you get hired, then each decision about the resume should increase the chance that you get hired.
If an employer asks you to list each job that you have had over the past five years, then you need to include all such jobs. But resumes don’t need to be comprehensive, so consider excluding things that decrease your chance of getting hired and including things that increase your chance of getting hired.
For example, at some point, the more certifications you list, the less impressive the list might be, in the sense that more certifications might make the bar seem lower for these certifications, especially if listed certifications include basic skills such as Windows 10.
For another example, your chances of getting an interview might be higher if you exclude your Nth part-time job that isn’t relevant to the position that you are applying for.
Suggestion 2
Tailor your resume to the job posting
A good way to increase the employer’s perception about you as a candidate for the position that you are applying for is demonstrate your effort and ability in tailoring your resume to the job posting, to indicate how you are an excellent candidate for the position.
Employers might be scanning your resume for particular things that are listed as requirements or qualifications on the job posting, so try to match your resume to the job posting as much as you can.
If you are not currently on the job market, consider checking job postings right now for positions that you are interested in, to get a sense of the skills, qualifications, and experiences that employers are looking for that you might seek out in an internship or acquire on you own.
Suggestion 3
Explain
Describe a thing in sufficient detail so that the reader understands the thing and the importance and relevance of the thing.
For example, if you received an academic award, consider indicating the criteria for winning that award, who decided to give you that award, how competitive the award was, and – if the award came with money or a monetary equivalent (such as payment of tuition) – the amount of money or the value of the monetary equivalent.
But no need to volunteer details that won’t be helpful: if you didn’t receive money, don’t indicate that the award didn’t come with money. If 40% of students get a particular scholarship, no need to mention that the scholarship is so frequency awarded.
A slight caveat to this suggestion is that, in some circumstances, the use of jargon (e.g., Shepardize) can signal that you know the jargon of the field, so that’s not a bad idea, if the jargon would plausibly be understandable to the reader, such as for law-related employers.
Suggestion 4
Send signals with your formatting
The appearance of your resume is another opportunity to increase the chance that you get hired, by signaling to the reader characteristics about you…
Signal your competence is using software, by including features such as headings and proper right justification of dates.
Signal your knowledge of conventions, by, for example, listing items within a section in reverse chronological order, because more recent things presumably provide more relevant information about the current you.
Signal your originality by not using a common resume template and instead using an original professional style. Or maybe using Canva or InDesign instead of Microsoft Word.
Signal your ability to communicate, by making your writing clear, concise, and correct. For example, consider indicating what an abbreviation stands for, if the abbreviation might not be known by the reader.
For employers that might use applicant tracking system (ATS) to screen resumes, run your resume through an Applicant Tracing System website such as jobscan.co to check how the resume is parsed. For example, the applicant tracking software might not properly parse text boxes. Moreover, text boxes might send a signal that you aren’t proficient enough in Microsoft Word to use columns or other features.
Suggestion 5
Consider order
The reader will plausibly be forming an impression of you as the reader runs down your resume, so impress the reader early by placing more relevant and important information earlier.
For example, if you can speak a second language, maybe mention that earlier than at the end of the resume.
And consider a separate earlier section for work experience that is directly related to the job that you are applying for, such as a section for “Law-related experience” and then, perhaps at or near the bottom of the resume, a section for “Other work experience” such as work at a fast-food restaurant.
Suggestion 6
Consider a layered format
Consider a layered resume in which the reader can easily get the highlights from a quick scan of the resume, but can then go back for more details if the reader desires.
In a sense, the limit for the length of your resume is not one page…the limit for the length of your resume is the length that maximizes the chance that you get hired. So consider including a “Objective” section and a “References” section, if these help you.
Suggestion 7
Make it easy for the reader
Make the text large and dark enough so that a hard copy of the resume can be read by the type of person who will be reading the resume.
If you include a URL to your LinkedIn page, consider making your LinkedIn page public, so that an employer can view the LinkedIn page without logging in.
Consider submitting the resume as a PDF, because a PDF should display the same way on every computer.
Use file names that can help the employer arrange files, such as:
- ZIGERELL Cover letter.pdf
- ZIGERELL Resume.pdf
- ZIGERELL Writing Sample.pdf
Suggestion 8
Get feedback
Get help with your resume, in what to include and exclude, and in how to present what is included.
It’s fine to ask for comments on a resume, but consider whether you can provide prompts that get you even better feedback. For example, ask about the signals that might plausibly be sent by particular resume items, and consider whether those signals are signals that you want to send…
Working your way through college plausibly sends a signal about your work ethic, but might also plausibly send a signal about your social class.
Mentioning a leadership position plausibly sends a signal about the trust that someone has placed in you, but – if the resume doesn’t mention what you did with that responsibility – that might raise questions about whether you wasted that leadership opportunity.
Get help from AI, too. Artificial intelligence is a tool that you can use to improve your application materials and your job prospects more generally. Ask AI programs such as ChatGPT questions such as:
Should my resume include my college GPA?
Can you give me a practice job interview question for a paralegal?
If I upload my resume, can you give me ten suggestions for improving the resume?
What are ten specific things that I should know or be able to do, to be a good immigration lawyer?
What are the three most common forms that a U.S. immigration lawyer needs to complete for their clients?
What makes a good argument for an extreme hardship, for a U.S. immigration waiver for inadmissibility?
Suggestion 9
Link elsewhere
Ideally, we want to increase the employer’s perception about you and reduce the employer’s uncertainty about you. The resume can help with that, but the resume can also point to other information that can help.
For example, including a photograph of yourself on the resume is highly unusual and can signal that you do not follow conventions (which isn’t necessarily a good thing to signal). But including a photograph of yourself on a LinkedIn page is a conventional choice that can increase your chance of getting hired if your photo has a professional appearance, so consider including in your resume a link to a LinkedIn page that has a professional photograph of you and has other information that can increase the chance that you get hired.
Even better or in addition, consider publishing and then linking to a personal website that provides extra information about yourself, such as writing samples or videos of you examining or cross-examining witnesses. But consider the needs and preferences of the audience, such as if an employer might be willing to read only a brief writing sample.
Sample webpage for a polisci job candidate. See especially the section on “Classes I am prepared to teach”, which discusses potential success in experiences that the candidate has not yet had. Discussing your potential for a job requirement that do you not have experience with might be better than ignoring that job requirement.
Suggestion 10
Supplement your application materials
The job market isn’t always a meritocracy, so don’t rely only on your job market materials or the expectation that employers will select the best candidate. Even if employers wanted to select the best candidate, applications materials are a noisy signal that have a good deal of uncertainty. But you can reduce that uncertainty in a positive way through activities such as networking and volunteering.
