How to Make Your Resume a Sizzle Reel

You’ve probably seen ESPN’s Sports Center Top 10 at least once – it’s one of their most popular segments.

And for good reason.

The Sports Center Top 10 assembles the most outrageously spectacular moments in sport. They don’t care if it’s from a major league event or a high school game, if there is a trick shot, diving catch, behind-the-back pass, or crazy play, any athlete who pulls off something amazing is celebrated.

Your resume should be your own personal Top 10 Countdown. You don’t have to be a CEO or a start-up genius to have highlights. Everyone has accomplishments—they just need to learn how to shine a spotlight on them.

Accomplishment-based resumes

The most common mistake I see from my clients’ resumes is that they focus on tasks instead of on accomplishments. Doing this makes your resume sound like a job description instead of a job application.

It isn’t a hard fix. You just need to reframe your experience.

Build your sizzle reel

Aspiring collegiate athletes send sizzle reels of their own highlights to show coaches what they can do. But athletes don’t send videos of them in practice, or sitting on the bench, or drawing up plays because coaches know any kid who can hit multiple homeruns, set a record for a 50-yard freestyle swim, or win a state track title is a kid who puts in the time behind-the-scenes.

Resumes are the same way. Employers assume you can do the jobs on your resume. If you were an administrative assistant, they assume you filed, answered calls, scheduled appointments, tracked expenditures etc. If you’re a manager, they assume you hired people, managed a budget, and set strategy.

But prospective employers don’t want to know what your job was, they want to know what happened because you did your job.

We spend a lot of time getting our clients to think critically about their work experience, but the biggest breakthrough usually comes when we ask questions like:

·        What are you proudest of in your role?

·        How did you make a difference in your role?

When clients answer those questions, they get to the heart of what makes them unique, how they work, how they view leadership and collaboration, and how they think. It’s a common mistake to think that information like that is too personal for a resume, but they provide the details that make your resume stand out.

For example, which sentence below better demonstrates someone who can be trusted as a leader?

Oversaw employee engagement programming.

or

Increased employee engagement and job satisfaction by responding to all employee concerns within two days.

They basically say the same thing, right? But even though the general idea is the same, the second sentence shows a manager who is proactive and focused on developing a cohesive team, not just punching the clock.

Show me the numbers

A key to having a resume perform well on ATS programs is data. You need numbers to back up what you say you can do.

Sometimes clients are afraid to put numbers in their resume because the information is protected by their employers. That’s valid.

But there are ways around it.

You don’t have to list actual revenue or productivity numbers. Instead, consider using percentages to demonstrate how your work impacted your company.

Another example: which sentence do you think would be more appealing to a prospective employer?

Created overtime strategy that increased production.

or

Increased ready utilization 8% and produced additional 28–30K units/month with new rostered overtime strategy.

Obviously, the second sentence does a much better job explaining what you could bring to the table by allowing a hiring manager to say, “Hey! We need help with our overtime scheduling. This could really help!” or “Our ready utilization is not good. I should call this person.”

Get specific

Writing a good resume is harder than it looks and takes longer than people think it should, so it’s common to see clients with resumes full of overused, business buzzwords explaining their job duties. To avoid these drab generalizations, you’re going to have to dig in and do a little work. But I promise that work will pay off big because:

·        Your application materials will be more representative of your skill set and experience.

·        Employers will be able to see how you might fit into their company.

·        Your resume will perform better with ATS and other screeners.

Most importantly, though, you will be more confident in your job search collateral.

And confidence can make all the difference.

Unleash the uncommon

At Uncommon Script, our background in public relations and marketing means we have a great understanding of narrative. We pride ourselves on our ability to create resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles that build a powerful personal brand for our clients.

If you want to see just what a difference uncommonly powerful writing can make, contact us today.