Does your resume show your high score?

Good Monday morning!

The best resume format for your resume in 2020 is the “High Score” resume format.

The High Score resume format focuses your resume on sharing the “high scores” you’ve reached and the achievements you’ve unlocked throughout your career. It is a format that enables you to present yourself in the most effective way possible without worrying about bragging. And it provides hiring managers and recruiters concrete proof of what you’re capable of.

The High Score Resume is very clear to people reading your resume about what you’d like to do next — what your “next level” is going to be. By showing what you’ve already achieved, it’s easy to explain what you’re capable of next. So while there are other parts of your resume that will deserve attention, the High Score Resume focuses most of your time and effort on the two most important sections of your resume: your work experience and your professional summary.

For your work experience, you’ll structure the description of your past experience as a string of personal bests.  All high scores have numbers — it’s easier that way for people to understand how good you were at Tetris, tennis, or … tax strategies. Same for your past experience — let your future boss know how good you were at the role, by providing your score. The High Score Resume constructs each bullet of your work experience with a success verb and a number — whether it be units, a dollar sign or a percentage. That’s the most effective way to convey your past successes.

In the High Score Resume, the professional summary specifically and effectively communicates your “Next Level” — the job you want next. Very significantly, it is not a summary of your past professional experience, but a summary of where you will be next.

In the professional summary, you make your most effective, most concise, most powerful pitch for the job you want. Using short words and brief phrases, this section stands out from the rest of the High Score Resume in a dramatic and compelling way. You’ll use that power to make clear to your future boss your capabilities and your expectations for your next role.

For a typical, experienced professional with more than 10 years of experience, you’ll have 25 bullet points across two pages to make your case. If you’re earlier in your career, you may have only 10-15 bullet points across one page. In either case, the High Score Resume treats each bullet point as a scarce, precious resource to be optimized for your success.

The High Score Resume makes the most of each bullet by demonstrating your success, with numbers. Each bullet is constructed of a success verb and a specific numerical accomplishment in your field or role. This entices potential interviewers by providing quantified, proven results that detail your successes.

The High Score Resume allocates bullets to jobs according to its importance in landing your next gig. Your most recent jobs are the most important, so the last five years get 10 to 15 bullets. The next five get five to 10. The next five get five in total. Anything beyond 15 years ago gets zero bullets. “One of the reasons to hire me is the experience I had in 2002 with … ” is simply not persuasive to bosses looking to hire in 2020.

In the High Score Resume, the structure for each bullet point is a success verb plus specific numerical data regarding an accomplishment in your field or role.  That means you need about 25 success verbs for your bullet points. Rather than make you guess, I’ve provided you with 25 great success verbs online that can serve effectively on any resume.

Finally, increasingly popular in recent years is the trend towards adding a company or role description.  This brief section describes the company and/or the responsibilities of the role in a single line underneath the company name. This succinct summary of important background information is quite an effective way to convey the facts about your role or the company; staff size, budget and hiring circumstances can be shared on this line.

So if you’re looking to get a head start on your 2020 career, read my whole High Score Resume article available on Ladders News.

Have a great week!

I’m rooting for you,