Here’s a great resume review video that I did for someone in my network! I’ve included both the video and a transcript, broken down by key points, below. There are a few key topics I talk about:

1️⃣ The importance of being data-driven and being specific about measures of success.
2️⃣ A stellar example of how to paint a great story using multiple bullet points.
3️⃣ My thoughts on the word “assisted” and how to shift the focus to the actual task you did.
4️⃣ The importance of balancing the idea of technical skills and softer skills

Transcript below

This week, I am doing a resume review for a digital marketing student who has a ton of really interesting experiences interning for different organizations. And what we’re gonna do is try and do this resume review at under five minutes as usual, and really we’re just going to look through the resume see what are some of the things that we really like and what are some of the things that maybe he can enhance moving forward for different internship applications.

Formatting Check 🧩

First things first, let’s take a look at the theme of the template. I actually really like it. It has a little bit of color and it has a really good balance of keeping it fairly minimal and readable, while still showcasing some personality. Especially in digital marketing, you want to showcase that little extra flair, so I have nothing but good things to say about the theme in this particular resume review. But I have more to say about the bullets themselves.

Capture Multiple Skills at Once 🛠

Jumping right into the bullet point itself, the first block of experiences are at the University Federal Credit Union, and the first point talks a little bit about his work in with the creative team to do things like creative briefs, manage production schedules, and measure the effectiveness of these campaigns. I think it’s really great that you’ve included multiple skills in one bullet point.

It’s a great way to capture in a very summary form what it is that you actually did. Especially in this last area measuring effectiveness, I think employers nowadays really want to see people who are making informed decisions using data and that’s a great thing to include on this experience.

To make it even stronger, something I would recommend is to talk a little bit about what you were actually measuring. How do you define whether or not something was effective or not or successful or not? Because you can take that opportunity to showcase that you know lingo that you actually know what you’re measuring and how you would define success moving forward in something similar.

Showing Context and Scale 📊

In the South by Southwest experience, I actually really really like the way that this is laid out from beginning to end. First I got a sense of what task you were doing – you design transactional emails and your goal was to increase brand awareness – love that!

Then I got a little bit deeper in that you were doing A/B testing so going back to that point and reinforcing the fact that you’re very data-driven. And then you gave me a measurable outcome of increasing average size by 68% percent. Again that’s amazing!

Then you gave me a little bit of a context or scale about what you actually did because you told me that you manage a list for 500,000 people. Amazing. And then you also had a hand in actually automating that to make it more scalable. So this entire block to me reads phenomenally.

How to Reframe the Word “Assisted” 🤝

The only thing I would consider is this word, “assisted.” Now, in internships, a lot of the times I see people wanting and using the word assisted because it’s a little bit harder to track and say that you owned a particular project, but it doesn’t mean that you weren’t responsible for automating workflows and opt-in forms.

Maybe you can soften that by saying “automated workflows and opt-in forms along with a team of five people or ten people”, and it takes the focus off of the assistance and more on the skill of automation workflows, so that’s something that I would consider changing.

Be Specific 🔎

In St. Edward’s University again you gave me a sense of scale by designing 20 behavior based trigger emails – so I think that that’s fantastic. And you also started talking a little bit about SEO best practices and solidifying that. So I love both of those points because you’re again you’re utilizing what industry would expect you to know.

Something to consider moving forward is this, digital assets. So I would encourage you to think about utilizing or adding some more details about what types of digital assets you are creating.

Was it a video? Was it creating banners? Did you do copy?

And the reason why I think it’s important is because it helps to showcase your unique skills and abilities and it gives people a sense of the specific types of tasks that you were responsible for and whether or not it matches up with what it is that they’re looking for. And you absolutely have the room to include some more details.

Especially in a one-page resume you really want to make sure you’re taking full advantage of the white space that you have.

Balance Tools of the Trade and Soft Skills ⚖️

Moving on to the next experience here On Vinyl Media. I love that. You were able to showcase that not only were you able to use a tool like WordPress, and then you also explained some of the technical capabilities and skills that you have.

Then in the second point, you start talking about interviewing artists and facilitating community outreach – and this is kind of the first time where you start to highlight some of those softer skills and those transferable skills which are equally important on resumes – so I love that you brought that energy in.

The last point is where I think there could be a little bit more oomph because you’re talking about embracing the startup culture and working alongside the CEO. I don’t know exactly what tasks or what responsibilities you had in accomplishing that goal so I would definitely encourage you to think a little bit more about that.

Interests in Resumes 💖

I do want to talk about onelast thing which is this section at the bottom. Under education, you have your interest listed and I can’t stress enough how much I love having interests on a resume.

It doesn’t take a lot of room, but it shows people and your interviewers, who you are outside of work, and what are the types of things that you’re that you enjoy. And I think that’s a dying thing on a resume but I think it adds such a nice unique touch to your application, so kudos for that as well.

Want your resume reviewed?

Follow Marco on LinkedIn to see more resume reviews or reach out about one of our Interview Coaching programs. Reach out anytime to marco@extempra.com if you have any questions you want to be answered!

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