What Makes A Good Resume

There’s a moment every hiring manager dreads. It’s when they open a resume and immediately feel like they’re reading a list of every job the person has ever had, with no thought about what’s actually relevant. Yep, that’s the first mistake people make: throwing everything on the page and hoping it sticks. It doesn’t work.

What makes a good resume isn’t cramming in every task you’ve ever done. It’s choosing what matters most for the job you want. If that sounds obvious, you’d be surprised how many resumes I’ve seen where it’s clear the person never thought about this. They just dumped everything in chronological order and called it a day. Don’t do that.

Talk About Results, Not Responsibilities

Here’s something that separates a decent resume from a good one: showing results. Too many people simply list what they were responsible for, like "managed a team of five. " Okay, but what came out of that? Did you hit sales goals? Improve team performance? Implement new processes? Hiring managers want to know how you made a difference, not just what your day-to-day looked like.

Use action words and numbers wherever you can. Instead of saying "handled customer complaints, " you could write "resolved 95% of customer complaints within 24 hours, improving customer satisfaction scores by 20%. " See the difference? You’re painting a picture of success instead of just describing a task.

Keep It Laser-Focused

The truth is, your resume isn’t for you. It’s for them. Forget trying to impress someone with everything you’ve ever done. They don’t care about your part-time barista job from ten years ago unless it directly ties into the role you’re applying for.

One trick I always suggest is keeping the job description in front of you while you’re working on your resume. Look at the keywords they’re using, the skills they’re emphasizing. Make sure your resume reflects those things. And if it doesn’t? Then it’s time to rethink how you’re presenting yourself. Yes, it takes extra effort, but it’s worth it.

Don’t Let Formatting Be Your Downfall

I’ve seen resumes where I couldn’t even figure out where the person worked or what their job titles were because it was such a mess. Look, hiring managers spend about six seconds on a resume before deciding if they’ll keep reading. If they can’t quickly skim it, they’ll move on. That’s just how it is.

Stick to a clean, simple format. Use consistent fonts and spacing. Make sure your contact info is easy to find. This stuff seems basic, but I still see people making it harder than it needs to be. And for the love of everything, no weird fonts or graphics. Unless you’re in a creative field, just don’t.

The Part Everyone Forgets

Proofread. Then proofread again. And maybe have someone else proofread for you. Nothing screams "I didn’t care enough to double-check" like typos on a resume. It’s such an easy fix, but people overlook it all the time.

One more thing: save your resume as a PDF unless the job description says otherwise. This keeps the formatting intact, no matter what software the hiring manager uses. I’ve seen Word docs go completely haywire when opened on different computers. Don’t risk it.

So there you go. The goal isn’t just to have a resume. It’s to have one that actually works. Start thinking about what the employer wants to see, show them results, and keep it clear and professional. It’s not rocket science, but it does take some thought. And honestly, if you’re not putting thought into it, why would an employer think you’ll put thought into the job?