Unicorns have always been a bit mysterious. Many consider them the frolickers of fairy tales. But like any good HR professional, I’ve wondered, what if they had resumes? This begs a few preliminary questions:
Q: What is a unicorn?
A: As detailed in this post, in the workplace, unicorns represent the unique, unrepeatable and “magical” facets that each of us bring to our organizations. In this sense, one’s magic is his/her unknown potential or conversely, his/her well-honed superpowers – the mysterious qualities that make us special. Employees’ individuality, authenticity and wealth of experiences make them of outstanding value to organizations. This value should be celebrated, nurtured and protected.
Q: Are you a unicorn?
A: While only you can answer this question, I would venture a guess…YES, you are!
Q: How does a unicorn make its resume stand out?
A: First, its resume is as unique as it is. Second, supportive of this individuality, unicorns know a secret formula. Read on to learn it for yourself.
Mystery Revealed
Unicorns do not simply write summary bullet points; they paint pictures, tell stories and prove their “point” (pun intended).
Most of the building blocks of resumes are generic: contact information, past job titles, education, dates, awards, skills, etc. However, the “meat and potatoes,” the bullet point descriptions, are what make a unicorn stand out. Invest your creative energies here! The building blocks, while crucial, pave the way and direct the eye to the heart of the matter – you, your experience, your accomplishments and your transferable skills.
So, what is the magic bullet? First, you start with a single unicorn hair and pixie dust….no, I am just kidding. All strong bullet points begin with a captivating action verb, followed by the project or skill that you are seeking to highlight. Finally, each bullet must close with the outcome or result of your efforts. Some refer to this as the “verb, accomplishment, outcome” model; unicorns refer to this as the “ACe it” Method, for its triple “AC” formula.
Action: What action did you take? Select a distinct action verb to represent your role in the accomplishment. Avoid the words “responsible for” as this feels dated and does not distinguish you from your cookie-cutter job description. You may have been responsible, but did you follow through? Did you achieve? How? What did you do?
Accomplishment: After the action verb, quickly address the “what,” the focus or subject of the bullet. What project, achievement, soft-skill, milestone, objective, etc. are you aiming to highlight? Paint a picture, sketch the scope and provide deliberate details.
Account For: Close each bullet by answering “why.” Why does this accomplishment matter? Why should a recruiter or hiring manager care? What was the result of the accomplishment? How did the organization and/or customer benefit? Address the significance, impact, outcome, improvement, change or savings. The more concrete, quantifiable and data-driven the result, the better.
Our unicorn friends have been kind enough to share a few examples of “ACe it” bullets:
Discovered and resolved data integration issue saving organization $50,000 in 6 months and reducing risk in all future transactions.
Implemented peer recognition tool used by 100 employees across 3 business units, leading to a 20% increase in the length of employee tenure and 30% decrease in tardy attendance.
Championed inclusive culture through affinity network outreach events, including marketing that doubled employee engagement in the network and hosting a day of service in the local community benefiting STEM programs.
Collaborated on the development of a new procedure that reduced operation set up time, saving 15 minutes and $20 in materials per part.
Mentored early career talent through 1:1 coaching and co-creation of custom development plans resulting in skill and career advancement of 5 individuals.
Executed business ramp up plan 98% to schedule with 0 safety incidents exceeding expected profit margin and leading to an extension of the customer contract.
Led daily shift change meetings ensuring safe production handoff and clear delivery expectations to support accountability and team cohesion.
Resume Best Practices: Do’s & Don’ts
Above we discussed the need for a strong foundation on which to position and frame your bullet points. Formatting is critical to ensure that the mere seconds recruiters devote to looking at your resume, among the hundreds they receive, are well spent. (Note: This assumes that your resume has the right key words to thrive in an algorithm-driven Applicant Tracking System.)
After exerting such time and care in writing your “ACe it” bullet points, be sure to dedicate time to polishing and reviewing your resume with a fine-tooth comb. Below are a series of best practices and tips for resume writing and a few notes about optimizing your resume on LinkedIn.
Do
Add details and work samples into your LinkedIn profile that do not fit the page limits of your hard-copy resume. For instance, a longer skills list, recommendations, volunteerism, etc.
Submit your resume in PDF form when applying to roles to ensure that your careful formatting is not undone when someone with another version of the software opens it.
Check spelling and grammar!! First impressions are lasting! I have received resumes from perp cooks and devil clarks…I mean prep cooks and deli clerks.
Focus attention and allocate spacing to your more recent roles. Recruiters are most interested in your latest 7-10 years of experience.
Place education ahead of experience if you are a recent (i.e. 3-5 years) graduate.
Include a link to your LinkedIn profile.
Share a professional email address. For students, an academic one is preferred. I once saw “wtflewi@” and “brownsexyme@” on resumes. No joke. Instead, use a version of your name, such as “j.smith@.”
Keep margins to at least .5” and font size to 10pts. (You can cheat font size on blank lines dividing sections.)
Guard white space around the text carefully. While resume real estate is expensive, make sure the view is pleasant and easy on the eyes.
Ask a fellow unicorn to proofread it; the more eyes the better.
Review and update your resume regularly. Always have a copy that you are proud to share.
Add new “ACe it” bullets in real time, so that accomplishments and their results are fresh in your mind. Recalling a comprehensive list of career milestones is challenging when the clock is ticking or has advanced onward.
Don’t
Use an MS Word or readily available online template. These are too cookie cutter for a unicorn, such as yourself. These templates are easily sniffed out by recruiters.
Inconsistently use commas, periods, spacing, date formats, etc.
Include “References available upon request.” This is simply assumed.
Fail to align your resume with your LinkedIn profile. The two should closely coordinate, if not match.
Take up space with a generic objective or profile statement. Largely, these have fallen out of fashion, unless a strategic reason exists to include one. Note: On LinkedIn, because of the nature of the site and its orientation to be relational, always include a brief summary or warm introduction.
Be afraid to go onto a second page, if and only if, you can fill the majority of a second page with meaningful content. If you do go onto a second page, label it with your name and include a page number just in case the pages become detached (e.g. J. Smith 2 in the header).
Feel that you must provide your entire street address if you do not wish to. Town and state are enough.
Sell yourself short, nor over embellish. Cast yourself in your best light, framing your accomplishments with action and grounding them in quantifiable results.
To the Point
Resumes are incredibly detailed and daunting documents to write. You, a unicorn, deserve to have a great one! Invest in yourself. Ask trusted colleagues and mentors to review your resume with you. Focus on your bullet points, and you will “ACe it.”
Download a free guide to the "ACe it" Method here.
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