#128 Optimizing Your Resume in a Competitive World

Every Sales Engineer job seeker knows the importance of having a good resume. Given our situation today, where the competition has gotten a bit tougher, having a decent yet ordinary resume might not be enough. Fortunately, there are some actionable steps you can take to make sure your resume is up to par and will not get lost amongst a sea of competitors. In today’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Amanda Rico to discuss how you can effectively leverage your resume and LinkedIn profiles to build your online presence, stand out and get noticed by recruiters, and advance in the hiring process.

 Dr. Amanda Rico is a resume and editorial expert and CEO of Rico Editorial Services based in Houston. She specializes in building resumes, cover letters, career documents, and Linkedin profiles for Senior- and Executive-level professionals. Throughout her 13+ years of experience, she has generated materials and built profiles for TEDx speakers, healthcare executives, entrepreneurs, and Energy & Petroleum professionals has published works in the Houston Business Journal, and has worked alongside public officials, career diplomats, and corporate executives.

Tune in to our conversation and learn:

• Why do you need a resume in the first place?
• How does the purpose of a resume change with the introduction of a job search platform such as Linkedin?
• Why your resume and Linkedin profiles must be congruent based on the job you’re pursuing
• Best practices on Linkedin that will help recruiters easily find you
• Top tips on how to optimize your resume during the pandemic
• What to include in your Linkedin profiles and resumes and what not to include (infographics, green sash or “open to work” feature, etc.)
• How your resume should be formatted and why it needs to be tailor-fit to the job you are applying for
• How to beat the system, a.k.a. Applicant Tracking Systems
• Common mistakes job seekers make in their resume that hurt their chances of getting an interview
• Should you use an objective or executive summary in your resume?
• Tips on how to write resumes for those who are thinking of switching industries
• What has worked for Ramzi and Benny in setting up and optimizing their resumes

Quotes:

Why the flow of the resume is so important: “What works well is spoon-feeding someone content. You have to walk them through the content that you want them to see. If you are shooting information all over the place, they’re not gonna know where to look and they’re not gonna be able to process the details you have on your resume.”  

Why you should tailor-fit your resume based on the job you’re applying for or industry you’re applying in: “The goal is always to tailor that document to whatever audience is reading it. There’s a distinction in the tech industry which is a bit more progressive in the types of keywords, buzzwords, styles that they wanna see, as opposed to something like the oil and gas industry, that really wants things to be very direct, bold, and concise. There are some distinctions in the approach and rhetoric like how you are creating this document for what audience.” 

Books or Resources for People Looking to Perfect their Resume:

Resumes for Dummies by Laura de Carlo

Jobscan

You can connect with Dr. Amanda Rico on LinkedIn

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