If you look up “resume advice” or “how to write my resume”, you’ll find literally hundreds of thousands of results: articles and social media threads and videos on the most effective way to write your resume. If you talk to recruiters (including ones in the nonprofit space!), each one will have a new set of rules. The information is frequently conflicting: one website says never go over a page and another says you can if you have a certain number of years of experience; one says to list all your quantifiable accomplishments and cut out responsibilities if you need to make space and another says responsibilities are the most important part; one says leave the jargon at the door and another says it’s important to use it to signal you know what you’re talking about. 

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Here’s the truth: There is no hard and fast set of rules that will guarantee someone will take a second look at your resume or move you to an interview. Even the same hiring manager reading the same resume for the same job might pick different people from the same pool on different days. Hiring is subjective and because it’s not a science, it feels really hard to understand and pin down how to set yourself apart. So today in Movement Mythbusters, we’re busting the Myth of the Perfect Resume. 

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The job search process makes you feel so out of control. Other people decide how long processes will take, how many and what steps they involve, whether or not you move forward, and frankly, how much of your time and mental energy to waste. Your application materials you can control, and so people write and rewrite them over and over. But what makes you feel confident? What makes you excited to talk about, what makes you feel the most represented on the page as you can be? It’s true that people want to hire folks who have some kind of self assuredness and your confidence comes through in your application. But what’s even more important is that you’ll likely have fewer regrets. If you get a rejection for an application, you’ll spend less time wondering what you could’ve done differently. Maybe not no time, but hopefully less. 

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Instead of this becoming one long list of recommendations made for the masses and not for you specifically, I’ve written a list of questions for you reading this to ask yourself. Take time to write down the answers, physically on paper if you can. Spend a few hours thinking about these things and then take another look at your application materials. If you need help working on them, sign up for a coaching session with me, and we can do it together. 

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1. What is the absolute core of the thing you’re trying to do and the job you’re trying to get? I don’t mean job titles or the most detailed list of responsibilities you can come up with. I mean what is the most fundamental aspect of the work you want to be doing? Is it that you want to build a team and develop staff? Is it that you want to be organizing on the ground? Playing a generalist connective tissue role? Creating narrative, or using money as a tool for organizing, or keeping the lights on so the programmatic work can continue? It’s your job in your resume to make this come across, and to position yourself as the exact right person to take on a role like that one.  
2. What are you most proud of having accomplished? This doesn’t just have to be hard numbers like doors knocked or money raised or views amassed! When I read a resume, I want to know what you think is important. You know your previous and current roles the best, not me, and maybe the most quantitatively measured achievements are not the things you see as foundational. If you managed a coalition and there was a huge moment of conflict which you facilitated and resulted in one organization who wasn’t aligned with the rest of the coalition leaving it, that might have been more significant to your experience than bringing 5 new coalition members in. We are not just numbers, and neither are our accomplishments. The things you’ve done matter even if there isn’t a number associated, even if there can’t be.
3. What are some of the most important responsibilities and qualifications for roles like the kinds of ones you’re looking to land? In which roles have you had similar responsibilities or demonstrated those qualifications, even if they weren’t the main responsibilities of the job? 
4. What do you want people to ask you about in interviews? What might not occur to interviewers to ask based on your job title that you want to talk about? Even if a hiring committee has a standard set of interview questions, they’ll leave time in the interview to ask ones specific to you. You have to frame yourself the way you want them to frame you from the first time you interact with the organization or hiring team. 
5. What do you think might not be obviously covered or reflected by previous positions you’ve held? Did your Digital Manager position involve writing fundraising emails? A hiring manager might not generally think of that as part of a Digital Manager role, but if it’s important to jobs you’re applying to, you should include it. 
6. Have multiple interviewers asked you the same question about your experience? Do you have multiple field positions on your resume but interviewers consistently ask whether or not you have experience cutting turf? If so, add it!   
7. If you were hiring for this job, what would you be looking for? Especially if you’ve been on a hiring committee, what do you look for in a resume for positions in the same field or department that you’re applying to work in? 

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Now, because I am asked frequently, here is a brief list of genuine rules for writing your resume: 

• Do not make your resume longer than 2 pages. No one is reading more than 2 pages. If you want to include a digital portfolio or writing samples, make a publicly accessible presentation and link it to do so, do not include it in the file your resume is in. 
• Submit your application materials as a pdf if you can. I never see this advice but it is so important! Since the enshittification of Microsoft Office Suite, few people have Word on their computer because it costs too much. Write your resume and then download it as a pdf with the file name “[Your name] resume”. Same goes with the cover letter. 
• Make all the text the same font, don’t put everything in bold, don’t make the font size too small, and double check that your formatting looks good before submitting. If you have more than a page, you should not do a layout that has two columns because it becomes confusing. 

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As always, I’m wishing you all the best in your job search, and I’m here for you. 

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