Blog: Future Delivery

A resume is essential in getting a great job, but has been 
neglected by many. Your resume is the piece of document that 
creates a chance for recruiters to consider you as an employee.  It doesn't matter how amazing you are 
at interviewing or how brilliant you are for the job, without a good resume, you have nothing.  I have 
reviewed and edited over a thousand resumes, and most resumes are nowhere near their full capacities.  
In fact, most resumes that I have seen are only about 10‐15% of their actual capacity.  People fail to 
recognize that resume building is a craft.  A resume is a one‐page representation that lets the company 
know that, given your GPA and experiences, can you: 
 
1. Create unique value for the company 
2. Fit within the company culture 
 
Take your resume seriously 
A resume is like a brochure for yourself. Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and months 
of expert work to finalize on a brochure that can represent the company. The average student only 
spends a couple hours piecing vague descriptions together without considering what effects it will have 
on their recruiting process. Your one page resume is extremely valuable real estate, and everything you 
put on it must have a purpose. If a sentence does not create value in the recruiter's mind, you should 
take it out; if a word does not create value, you should take it out. With a well‐optimized resume, you 
would be able to get interviews even with a less‐than‐competitive GPA.  
 
Few seconds to establish a connection 
One thing to note is that most recruiters only spend around 10‐25 seconds on each resume. Therefore, 
your resume must not only have good information, it must "feel" impressive. Within those few seconds, 
you need to already have made a connection with the recruiter. Having a high GPA is obviously the 
fastest way to do that, but I have seen resumes with extremely high GPAs get rejected simply because it 
was not put together in a way that makes the applicant seem valuable.    
 
Build a holistic image of yourself 
Recruiters are trying to figure out if you are a good person to be on their team. As a result, your resume 
must reflect you as a person, not just a brain.  You must show that you are a well rounded, qualified 
individual as an employee, coworker, potential leader, and someone to hang out with.  A very important 
concept to pay attention to is Diminishing Marginal Image, which means that if seven lines on your 
resume say you are good finance person, the eighth line that says you are a good finance person would 
mean little in the mind of the recruiter.  Instead, say that you are a team player, an organized person, or 
did something creative, even though your next experience might still be dealing with finance.  
 
The Ins and Outs from an experience 
When you are building your resume, keep in mind that your goal is not to say that, "I am impressive 
because I had so‐and‐so experiences." Your goal is to say that, "I am impressive because WHILE I had 
these experiences, I did so‐and‐so things that others would not have done." In essence, ten other people   could have the same position in the same company, but your resume stands out because you went 
above and beyond your daily duties and actually accomplished great things. This brings us to the topic of 
Ins and Outs. Ins are what you absorbed through an experience, such as the financial skills and the 
softwares used. Outs are what you did that created value in that organization. Companies are more 
interested in Outs because it clearly reflects you as an individual, instead of simply the job title of that 
experience. Ins are often reflected within your position already, such as "treasurer," "web development 
analyst," but it is your Outs that ultimately define you as a person. 
 
Four Phases of optimizing your resume 
Optimizing your resume could be a year‐long process.  Some people have spent hours every week for six 
months, and still only reach around 55% of its capacity. This is mostly because they do not have a 
systematic approach in improving the resume, and as a result work on the wrong things. If a student 
does not build her resume correctly from the beginning, she could spend months on it, and still need to 
start from scratch to obtain all the interviews she deserves. In order to truly optimize one's resume, it 
needs to go through four phases. 
 
Phase I: Formatting 
Remember, a recruiter only takes 10‐25 seconds on each resume. In those precious seconds, your 
formatting is extremely important in giving them the right "feel" of your resume. Bullet points are the 
most efficient way to present what you have done in each experience. You should allow enough space 
for each bullet point line in order to put in as much information as you can. Make sure that you do not 
waste any space, and everything is consistently formatted. Inconsistencies in your resume could 
instantly ruin your chances with your dream job. You can easily find sample resumes and templates 
online, so make sure that these key points differentiate you from others. 
 
Phase II: Strategy 
Strategy is one of the most ignored parts in resume building, which is costly for students. Most people 
just think about what they did in each experience, list them out, and move on. To optimize your resume, 
you must first come up with a list of the skills and traits the company is looking for. Then you must list all 
the Ins and Outs from your experiences that show that you have these characteristics. Finally, you 
should strategically plan out which experiences will convey which characteristics. This is where you 
should apply Diminishing Marginal Image. You must decide which experiences are the best at conveying 
which qualities, and make sure they are in the order that builds value in the recruiter's mind.  
 
Phase III: Wording 
Wording in a resume is the most technical part of a resume, and is what most resume building sites 
cover. However, they usually do not cover enough. They will tell you to use action verbs and focus on 
results, as well as use quantitative examples. I want to add that for each bullet point, there are four 
things you can include: what it is, method, result and impact. Most people rush to write about what they
did at their job, but in actuality, that is the least important thing to list on your resume. This is the order 
of importance: 
 
1. Result 
2. Method 
3. Impact 
4. What it is 
 
If you said you "doubled company revenues by spearheading an innovative marketing campaign and changing the distribution channel," (result, and then impact) the 
interviewer will ask you what position you had in the company and then you can tell them what your 
responsibilities were.  Also, try to word each bullet‐point in a way that they all end at the end of that line. That way you will form organized "rectangles" in each experience. 
 
Phase IV: Optimization 
This is where you refine your resume so everything becomes a holistic image of who you are. At this 
point, you will notice you don't need to change many things, but tweaking a word here and there, 
rewording some of the sentences, and rearranging some of the bullet‐points. These tweaks are also 
often company‐specific, as every firm looks for different things from each applicant. If you get to Phase 
IV, you should already have a resume that is over 80% capacity, and the rest fine tuning specifically to 
meet the company’s needs.   
 
Creating a resume is a journey. You will learn more about yourself, what you have done, the values you 
have created, and will also help you do better in an interview due to stronger stories. You already spend 
so much money and time in college just to get a good career. Why get lazy when it comes to actually 
applying for one? 
 

The best interviews are conversations.  What I mean by this is that the interview was NOT in the question then answer, question then answer format.  Instead, you and the are interviewer actively engaged in a conversation and you connect through similar interests outside of the work place environment.  The biggest mistake that students and young professionals make during their interview is that they try to be too professional and are so nervous that they forget that culture fit is just as important as being qualified for the job.  Remember, one of the most important questions that an interviewer will ask herself before she gives you an offer is, “Would I like working with this person?”  If the interviewer would lose her mind if she had to sit next to you on a five-hour flight, then it doesn’t matter how experienced you are or what’s on your resume.  You need to connect with you interviewer.

So how do I establish the connection?  Well I’m glad you asked.  Here are the five ways to effectively establish the connection with you interviewer:

1. Make your first impression count

When you see your interviewer, you should do three things: shake her hand firmly, introduce yourself confidently, and most important, SMILE!  You will of course be nervous for your interview, but that doesn’t mean that you have to show it.  Smiling creates a friendly and welcoming feel that will make the interviewer feel comfortable when meeting you for the first time.

Also important is to remember to stay positive throughout your entire recruitment process.  The interviewer will ask how you’re doing.  Your answer must be something along the lines of, “I’m doing amazing!”  Everything is positive when speaking to your interviewer.  If you say that you’re stressed because of an upcoming test, then your negative energy will rub off onto the interviewer.  They want to know that when there are deadlines due at work and it’s 2am in the morning, you will be the one who is lively and bringing life to the team rather than the person who is complaining and stressing out.

2. Take control of the conversation

Don’t let the walk to your interview room be silent and awkward.  Take control of the conversation by asking the interviewer how her day has been or what she plans to do on the weekend.  It is your job to initiate and keep a conversation going.  Asking her about her weekend is the perfect conversation starter because hopefully she’ll give you a glimpse of what she does outside of work.  If you find that you have something in common, then you can build upon that.  For example, if the interviewer says that he went to the park and played basketball during the weekend, I’ll immediately build upon this by expressing my interest with playing ball and how I played for my high school team.  I can then take the conversation anywhere that I want it to go by asking him if he played high school sports or if there is a company sports team.

3. Tell your interviewer about your interests and passions

The first question that your interviewer will ask you is, “Tell me about yourself?”  This is the perfect time to tell the interviewer about your interests and passions.  Most people make the mistake and simply mention their school activities and previous experience.  That is important, but finding grounds of similar interest is even more important.  A general interest that absolutely everyone shares is traveling.  At the end of your answer to “Tell me about yourself,” you can mention that you love to read mystery books, playing soccer, and traveling and experiencing different cultures.  You can then quickly transition by asking them if they have ever been to Peru and climbed Macchu Picchu (this is an experience that I use).  The interviewer may say no and move on to her questions, but what if she asks, “What’s Macchu Picchu?”  That’s perfect!  You can immediately engage into a conversation with her by telling he all about your trip and how she should definitely go there sometime.

4. Turn your interview answers into follow up questions

Always find ways to turn your interview answers into relevant follow up questions for your interviewer.  This is the perfect way to stay away from the mind numbing question then answer, question then answer format.  For example, if I give an example using my experience with my business fraternity, I’ll immediately follow up the conclusion to my story by asking, “Were you involved with the Greek life as an undergrad?”  It is a very relevant question because I just told an answer about my experience with Greek life and I am sincerely curious about my interview’s experience with it as well.  There is always a way to turn the question around to your interviewer; understand your interview stories and know how your answers can be turned into follow up questions.

5. Use the ending Q&A section to your advantage

At the end of your interview you will always be asked if you have any questions for your interviewer.  This is still part of your interview, so make sure you have some meaningful and unique questions.  I often use this time to take advantage and learn something meaningful about the interviewer. I will literally ask her, “So let’s get down to the important stuff.  What is it that makes you tick?  What made you choose a career with this company?”

Surprised?  Do you feel that it is too forward and that it may be crossing the professional line?  My answer to you is that you want to stand out above your peers.  Show that you are sincerely interested in your interviewer as a person, and not just as a professional.

That’s it.  These are the 5 easy steps that you can begin implementing right now in your interviewing strategies.  Turn your interview into a conversation and find a way to connect with your interviewer.  If you establish that connection and she likes you, then you’re that much closer to getting the offer!