Designing a stand-out resume
Updated
by Justin Ling
If you're applying to large well-known companies, there are some pretty strict guidelines to follow. The reality is you have less than 15 seconds to catch the eye of the recruiter.
We've developed this guide and some resources to give you your best shot at standing out.
Start by Accessing these Resume Resources:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1azGcvQYFZBjNwaBhUyvW2K2lvaNi3T85?usp=sharing
Guide: How to use the Resources
1) What is your story?
Your resume is a story - A story that connects your personal experiences to the job you are applying for.
Follow these questions to begin to craft your story:
Q1: How have my experiences shaped me?Q2: What does the job entail?Q3: How do the collection of my experiences show I’m a match for this job?
Now that you have two sides, see if you can see the match. You might have to go back to the previous steps if it isn’t obvious to you. Try and be objective, the recruiter doesn’t know you and has no reason to pick you unless you make it obvious.
More details in your resources:
2) Tell your Story through Resume TemplateNow that you have your story, its time to communicate it in resume format.
Generally if you are applying to a Fortune 500 company, you don't want to get too creative. You'll want you resume to look as clean and professional as possible. Keep it to 1 page.
When writing your resume, keep in mind your story and your 3 questions. Remember, you want to be honest, but how you frame you experiences can make a huge difference.
These two resources will help you write and format your resume:
3) Adding EquitySim to your resumeThere are many employable skills that you put to the test while using EquitySim. Framed in the right way this can be a great showcase piece on your resume. Especially if you've joined a sponsored challenge.
I wrote an article on how you can leverage EquitySim in your resume:https://intercom.help/es-support/en/articles/3333471-showcasing-your-work-on-equitysim
4) Polish, Polish, Polish
When it comes the finance industry professionalism is a top priority. How you format your resume is just as important (if not more important) than the content itself.
We have sample resume books that will give you an idea of how to format you resume. When looking through the samples pay attention to: Formatting, spacing, alignment, header sizes, font sizes, bold, use of capitalization, cleanliness.
5) The Eye Catcher Now its time to give your resume a test-run. You've just spent hours re-reading every part of your resume. Now, pretend to be a recruiter that will look at your resume for 10 seconds.
What stands out?What catches your eye first?Is this what you want to stand out?
6) Polish, Polish, PolishDid we mention polish is important? Spend some more time to review the samples and polish that resume. We put great emphasis and stress on this. We've heard of stories of resumes being passed because of small alignment issues in the resume!
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