How to Write a Stand-Out Resumé

In just a few days, we can receive literally a hundred CVs for certain types of roles. Wading through so many resumés is a day-long task, and it can be easy to miss a great candidate – especially if, as is most of the case, the person responsible for the pre-screening works in the HR department and is, therefore, not the best judge of the more in-depth technical abilities.

Human Resources teams often get swamped and have to ask the question: What keywords should we look for? This is how many unlucky candidates inevitably get filtered out, even if they would otherwise be a great fit. And it gets worse – because more and more companies are leaving the initial filtering process to machines and artificial intelligence.

Recruiters who help candidates apply for jobs know that these algorithms are pretty easy to game, and naturally, writing CVs too gets a hand from AI, or MS Word templates. This explains why all resumés now look the same, and why it has become so hard to tell the wheat from the chaff.

But if all CVs are written and read by robots, is it even possible to stand out? And if so, how?

Constructing a pyramid

McKinsey & Company, the worldwide management consulting firm soon to turn one hundred years old, often uses the Pyramid Principle to communicate ideas clearly. Analysts might only have a few minutes to explain a complex recommendation and pique an executive’s interest, so they use this tool to structure their message.

This will probably sound familiar to anyone who’s ever been in the position of having to read other people’s CVs: It’s hard to figure out where to start when all we are presented with is page after page of listicles. Resumés with a clear structure will always have the advantage.

The Pyramid Principle teaches you to:

1. Start with the answer. When it comes to writing a CV, make sure to start with your strongest point – maybe include a list of your biggest and most relevant achievements. Decision-makers won’t have time to read an entire resumé until before an interview, make sure to give them something to remember.
2. Group and summarize supporting arguments. And while you’re at it, make sure the arguments are actually communicated. Generic categories such as “Education” or “Work Experience” will put all the work on the reader. Do your homework, find out what employers want to see on your resumé, and put those exact qualifications in the titles. Don’t just include your job title; whenever possible, describe your work experience with vivid examples, and make sure to explain the extent and quality of your work.
3. Order supporting ideas logically. From the layout to the selection of words, every decision should be deliberate, tailored to the employer, and designed to convince them to hire you. Explain your experience in a clear and concise way, and arrange the information to prioritize that which exactly fits the employer’s needs.

Nothing but the truth

It’s generally a bad idea to put anything untrue on your CV, even if it’s as harmless as enjoying chess. Nassim Taleb recounted an anecdote in his book Fooled by Randomness, in which many people applying for a position at a hedge fund put “chess” on their resumé. As it happened, a former Soviet chess player was on the hedge fund’s team, so whenever a candidate claimed great proficiency in chess on their CV, they’d be invited to take on the master at the end of the interview.

No one wants to hire cheaters, and HR teams don’t want their time wasted either. I heard of one company that even went so far as to create a website and a fake programming language as a “honeypot” for candidates to fall into; many applicants claimed to have much experience with the non-existent language.

But nobody can fault you for using true statements to your advantage. If there’s a hard requirement that you don’t have an exact match for, say, “X years of experience managing digital projects,” it might be worth showcasing “X years of management experience” (that has nothing to do with digital), plus your off-work experience with digital projects – even if the latter was building personal websites in your free time. Creativity doesn’t start in the workplace; it starts before getting the job.