When a hiring manager is doing their initial 15-20 second scan of your resume, they’re looking for answers to the following four questions: 1. What specific role are you targeting? 2. What specific results have you achieved that show you're the right fit for this position? 3. What skills, qualifications, and strengths do you bring, and can you prove them? 4. Can you provide specific achievements you've delivered in the past that indicate you can deliver them in the future? These four questions can and should be answered in the top third of your resume. This section is designed to feature the answers to these 4 questions so when a hiring manager reads your resume, their immediate thought is, "this is exactly who I’ve been looking for."

To make yours stand out, you need to first make sure that you are writing things that describes you, not just copying and pasting. This is because you need to show who you really are. You need to then make sure that you include all of your own qualifications, skills, experiences and achievements. This is to show that you're suitable for this role. You must make sure that you fully understand this role before crafting your resume. This is so that you would know what to include in your resume.

Cut through the noise by focusing on impact, not just buzzwords. Use clear, concise language to highlight specific achievements, and quantify results whenever possible (e.g., ‘Increased team efficiency by 20%’). Tailor your resume to the role by mirroring the job description’s key skills and priorities. Show, don’t tell, replace generic phrases like ‘team player’ with real examples of collaboration. Finally, lead with a strong summary that tells your story in 2-3 lines. Authenticity and clarity will always stand out in a sea of jargon

To make your resume stand out, focus on showcasing tangible achievements and skills rather than relying on buzzwords. Use specific numbers and metrics to demonstrate the impact of your work, and highlight transferable skills that can be applied to the role. Tailor your resume to the job description, using keywords and phrases from the posting to describe your experience and qualifications. By doing so, you'll create a clear and compelling narrative that showcases your unique value as a candidate.

I recruited for 20 plus years, and here's how I evaluated a resume: Do you have the "hard" qualifications, e.g., CPA, MBA, Top Secret Security Clearance, close enough to the stated number years of experience. Do your responsibilities match the responsibilities for the role as stated in the position description? Is your reporting relationship similar, e.g., reporting to a similar level and a similar number of reports? In 1,000 resumes, perhaps 10% will have all of the above. Are you in an aligned industry? For example, are you in manufacturing of process equipment? Because if you are in banking, you won't pass this step. In the hundreds of thousands of resumes I have evaluated, 90% don't pass the above screens.