One Thing Youre Probably Getting Wrong with Your Resume

One Thing Youre Probably Getting Wrong with Your Resume One Thing Youre Probably Getting Wrong with Your Resume Does your resume tell your whole story? After reading it, will people know the details of everything youve achieved? If so, its probably not working. I love to paint and Im extremely detailed and anal when I do it. If Im going to paint a piece of fruit, its going to have every single detail exactly right or Ill tie myself in knots trying (hence, I am constantly tied in knots!) But Im taking a painting class right now that is transforming the way I paint and funnily enough, the lessons Im learning are the ones I teach my clients every day. The class is called How to Paint Fast, Loose and Bold and, as the title would suggest, its all about loosening up. Were being encouraged to paint with big brushes and to eliminate the details that are not important while choosing the ones that are. In this way, we can convey all the important information about our subject while keeping the painting fresh and interesting. This is exactly what I do when I write a resume, so I have no idea why it didnt occur to me before to do the same while painting! The key to a successful resume and the thing most people get wrong is that its not supposed to be your life story. Its not supposed to tell people everything you did. Its not supposed to talk about every project you worked on, every responsibility you held, every technology you ever used, every language you ever programmed in if you try to convey all that, your reader will get lost in the weeds and your resume will be dull and long-winded. Instead, your resume should be like the painting I featured in this post. It was painted by our teacher Patti Mollica. Click to enlarge it and notice how she conveys everything you need to know about the scene, but while using big bold strokes. Looking at that painting, you almost feel as though youre there with her in Times Square on a rainy day. (Check out the rest of her paintings here. Theyre pretty amazing). If you use bold strokes on your resume, if you eliminate all the unnecessary detail and focus only on the important stuff, your resume will sing like that painting. So spend some time going over your resume looking for the unnecessary details. And if youd like to know more about how to decide on whats necessary and unnecessary, sign up for the Blue Sky free resume writing course, delivered by email. Youll soon get the hang of it.