10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Writing Your Resume
A tool to draw out the best of your experiences
Over the last few years, I’ve sat down with many a student to edit and review their resumes. For students who are writing a resume for the first time, the process is fairly daunting. Formatting and precise wording are window dressing for the real content of your resume: your experiences. I’ve seen most students struggle primarily in reflecting on their experiences.
Self-reflection is the foundation of a great resume. Here’s why: you need to remember the work you did and draw value out of each experience you have. That value is both internal and external. You built some skill (internal) and contributed something to your team or organization or the world (external).
As you write your resume, I encourage you to ask yourself the following questions about each experience and write down your thoughts in bullet points. This is the first, fundamental step to writing your resume well. Once you’ve gone through this process a few times, you’ll begin to do this automatically when you update your resume next.
The questions will start off as fairly basic, then build to a wholistic reflection. Do this process for each experience you want to put on your resume.
1. Where did you work and what was your title?
2. When did you work there?
3. What were your key responsibilities in this role?
4. What did you spend most of your time doing in this role?
5. Which categories of skills did you use?
- Leadership
- Communication
- Design
- Teamwork
- Technical
- Problem Solving
- Other?
6. Did you take on any leadership positions (in a project, team, event)?
7. What were the outcomes of your projects? Use numbers to describe them if you can.
Bonus Questions: Use these to help you determine if you would be a good fit for the job you’re applying to.
8. What did you enjoy most about your role?
9. What was the worst part of your job?
10. Did you receive any special recognition for your work? How did you go above and beyond?
There is plenty of value in doing this reflection exercise when applying to a job. This will not only help you write a great resume, but also set you up for success in your interviews. If you reflect on your work and your impact, you’ll be able to tell a genuine story that goes much deeper than a surface level analysis of your experiences.
While reflection takes time, it will serve you well throughout your professional life.
For more personalized resume advice, visit my website: BirchwoodResumes.ca
