Resume and LinkedIn Tips
Resume
Don't put down your physical address. Just city, state, and zip code is fine.
No need for mission statement. "I am a hard-working, team-oriented person who has strong attention to detail and passion." This tells me nothing.
For college recruiting: Don't include your GPA if it's not above 3.6+ (or whatever cut off that profession requires)
PDF your resume. MS Word format gets messed up on the receiving end because of potential version differences.
Write about what you accomplished, not what your responsibilities were. Quantify them. Replace "wrote codes" with something like "wrote 2,000 lines of codes that brought in $5 million in annual subscription revenue."
Use active voice. Passive voice is wordy. "I did x" (3 words) is better than "x was done by me." (5 words)
Generally, think about improving the words-to-information ratio: how to say the same thing with less words.
Good habit to save your resume with your first and last name as file name.
Tailor your bullets to the job description by matching key words. A lot of AI / robots "read" your resume, they don't know what you actually did, they are just pattern matching.
Make sure things align. Have consistent formatting.
Search for double spaces and remove them.
Despite the urge to impress, do not put down things that you cannot discuss during interviews. The interview is free to ask you anything you put on your resume (including your hobby, books you read, etc.)
Controversial ones:
International candidates: Use an English name, studies have shown resumes with foreign names have resulted in lower response rates.
If your name sounds international, put down your visa status so that you don't waste time with roles that don't sponsor work visa.
MBA is not a designation. Do not put it behind your name. Same goes for designations that are not recognized by the profession of your interest.
Building a Strong LinkedIn Profile
A strong LinkedIn profile is to scale your personal network nonlinearly. If you don’t have a profile, start one now.
General tips:
Use a professional headshot. No selfies. Also, use a colored photo, unless you work at Blackstone.
LinkedIn is a professional network, so I don’t recommend posting personal content, political views or other controversial topics there.
Be concise: Always think about how to say the same thing with less words.
“About” section:
Fit your tagline so others don’t have to click “see more.”
No fluff: “I am a hard working professional who is detailed oriented and has critical thinking skills.” tells me nothing.
Instead, make the tagline more concrete: “Tech product manager with 5 years of experience generating $xxx millions of revenue and managing x number of people across y numbers of functions.”
“Activity” section: Your connections can see your every Like and Comment. Be careful with what you say and like.
“Experiences” section: This section is the major reason why LinkedIn meme accounts exist and thrive. Do’s and Don’ts:
Do not list pre-college or campus jobs unless relevant.
Similar to resume, each full-time and internship experience should have 2-3 bullets at maximum. Highlight quantified accomplishments instead of listing your responsibilities.
“Education” section: Don’t list your high school, unless maybe you are the Stuy- or Exeter / Deerfield- type (FYI - I am not.)
Miscellaneous sections: the key is to focus on relevancy
Professional designations: List only relevant ones. MBA is not a designation.
Recommendation for your campus job at the music library doesn’t matter anymore, hide it.
Organizations: Selectively show, don’t show like 200 organizations that don’t relate to your professional pursuit
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Thanks for reading. I will talk to you next time.