How to build the ultimate professional resume

I’ve reviewed more than 500,000 resumes during my career and have developed an optimal resume format that works for 95% of the workforce. Below are the How To Build The Ultimate Professional Resume video and podcast highlights!

Your resume has only one goal: To entice a prospective employer to speak with you!

Your resume does not: serve as a vehicle to ask for what you want or relay what you’ll do if the employer hires you. Use emails, cover letters, and the job interviews to convey those messages.

Contact Information

Name: Use first and last name only.
Address: Street Number, City, State, and Zip Code.
Phone: Use your cell with a professional voicemail greeting. Do not use your home number with the kids yelling or dogs barking in the background.
Email: Use a personal and polished email with your name (johnsmith@gmail.com). Do not use nondescript formats (ilovebirds@gmail.com).

Career Profile

In this section, include one or two very short paragraphs, which identify:

Who you are
What you’ve accomplished
Summary of proficient skills
Don’t include what you want because you want to get them excited!

In the video and podcast, I provided two dissimilar examples of how to aggregate your careers (including a sales professional and hostess examples for illustrative diversity).

Career Highlights

In this section, include three to four significant accomplishments.

You’ll hit home runs if you focus on the three key areas companies care about:

Generating revenue
Saving costs
Optimizing their infrastructure and processes to operate more effectively
In the video and podcast, I provided additional examples.

Work Experience

In this section, outline the following information. The video and podcast have substantially more insight to the rationale and details.

List work history in reverse chronological order (never organize by functions performed across companies).
Place company name on left side with one sentence description of company immediately underneath.
Indent titles/roles underneath company and description with one or two sentences to aggregate accomplishments at the position.
Detail accomplishments and responsibilities within each position.
Employers think in terms of time and chronology. They want to see career progression within and across companies.

Education

List your school(s), city, state, and date of degree or anticipated completion date.

Extracurricular and Volunteer Activities

Identify any relevant participation, activities, and experience.