Roughly 20 years ago, I remember holding a conversation about the resume screening process with an HR friend of mine, who remarked: “Honestly, after you sift through 200-300 applications in a row you sort of fall into ‘resume stupor’ and start to tune out – since they all pretty much start to look the same.”
Fast-forward to 2024 and I sadly believe this phenomenon has gotten even worse, given the availability of so many generic resume templates, as well as the proliferation of new email/AI tools enabling people to send out thousands of random applications (gross) with the press of a single button. As a result, it’s extremely uncommon you’ll come across something on a resume that really stands out from the crowd or that makes you pause and go “wow, that’s a different approach to things!”
For example, in a recent resume I received from a potential client, the summary at the top read as follows:
“Highly organized professional with over 13 years of experience in Payroll and Accounting. Especially skilled in verbal and written communication. Detail-oriented multitasker practiced in managing multiple priorities efficiently. Analytical problem solver with excellent research and critical thinking skills. Creative team player recognized for ability to utilize available resources in achieving desired results. Motivated self-starter reputable for completing projects on time. Trustworthy worker with strong work ethic.”
Raise your hands — couldn’t most of you out there (not to mention most professionals, in general) claim all of these exact same capabilities? Is there anything in the above paragraph that you feel would truly grab an employer’s attention or distinguish this person from any other applicant within the field in question?
For this reason, I’ve felt for years now that the resume world was ripe for re-invention. There’s so much same-sounding, computer-generated material floating around out there that a person who bucks the trend and gets more creative should see better results — particularly for people who are underdogs and not able to compete as effectively on paper with their peers due to things like job gaps, age bias, lack of education, or the like. And yet, again, I almost never see anybody try it.
At any rate, just as food for thought, I’ve wondered for years if a person might see an uptick in interviewing were they to follow most of the standard resume rules, but add an unconventional section near the top that showcases their experience in a new light — and immediately signals to the reader that their resume isn’t like the other 199 documents in the stack. A section like:
· Top 5 Lessons Learned During My Career
· Core Principles of my Leadership Style
· The Specific Problems I Solve for Organizations
· Key Themes Throughout My Career History
· My Point-of-View About (name of your discipline area)
· How I Generate ROI for Organizations
· Top 3 Myths About (your industry or occupational field)
· Where I Shine / My Key Differentiators
Heck, you could even inject some humor into your resume to spice things up if you can do so in a way that doesn’t cross the line into gimmicky or corny!
Can I promise any of these techniques will improve your odds? Unfortunately, no, since I just haven’t seen enough candidates willing to go out on a limb and try them. At the end of the day, however, I just feel the conditions are ripe for applicants to inject more thoughtfulness, creativity, and authenticity into their documents. The “stupor” is just getting worse, again, as employers have to wade through piles of resumes sent in from all other the world (thanks to the remote work revolution), most of which look incredibly similar thanks to all of the templates, AI tools, and advice that has now proliferated across the web.
Your thoughts? Have you experimented at all with creative, outside-the-box approaches in your own materials — and if so, what have been the results?
I like the idea of putting something unique, but I wonder how many resumes a hiring manager actually sees these days after the applicant tracking system and HR have removed the bulk of applicants?
Thanks for your comment and no question about it, even if one were to try some of the creative approaches mentioned above, that doesn’t negate the fact that they’d also want to ensure their resume is optimized to get through ATS scans and the like — packing it with relevant keywords, avoiding non-scannable formatting, and so forth. They’d also still need to be pretty darn qualified for the role in terms of factual credentials such as past job titles, industry knowledge, education, and such things. But in cases where one’s resume DOES reach the stage where it gets a thorough look by an employer (or in networking scenarios where ATS technology doesn’t even come into play) my thought is that some unorthodox, thoughtful content might be the thing that tips the scales and sets one apart from other candidates with very similar qualifications. Again, just a hypothesis, and am hoping a few recruiters or hiring managers might come across this thread and let us know if they’ve seen such an approach before — and how they actually reacted to it!
I love this Matt! The generic sounding resumes, “experts” with 1-2 years experience, and green formatted headlines are draining me. If a resume tells a story, then I’m more engaged. I take the time to read every resume and showcasing something in a new light is appealing to me. It would also make a great headline on a LinkedIn profile. If I ever need a resume, I’ll add “how I got into recruiting” and “why I stay in recruiting”.