Best Ways To Make The Resumes You Write More Skimmable
So much attention goes to writing ATS-friendly resumes that we sometimes forget that, at some point, recruiters and hiring managers READ and/or SKIM the resumes we write. Of course, there's no guarantee that even this will happen, but it's best to be prepared for when/if it does.
As resume writers, we want the most essential career bits about our clients to pop out to those who skim content. After all, we are content writers who market our clients to the best of our ability. This means highlighting each client's most impressive knowledge, skills, and achievements.
We do this in part by using a mixture of paragraphs, bullet points, and white space to break up the text. However, there's another effective way to accomplish this.
Here's What We Mean
When you're writing resumes, you can draw attention to certain areas of the resume by incorporating numbers. For example, you could mix dollar amounts, percentages, sizes of things, and years into resume content.
Mixing numbers into your content is relatively easy once you learn about the many variations. Here are a few to help you get started:
- Dollar Amounts = Profit & Loss (P&L), Purchasing/Project/Capital Improvement Budgets, Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
- Percentages = Staff Increases/Reductions, Cost Savings, Production Improvements, Market Share Growth
- Sizes of Things = Square Footage of Building, # of Employees/Teams
- Years = When Major Events Occurred; e.g., “Revised emergency and risk management plan in response to flooding at the East Texas office in 2019. Established company-provided aide packages for 53 displaced workers.”
Essentially, we give those viewing the resume a chance to find eye-catching and exciting content bites that help "sell" our clients to potential employers.
Skimmable Content in Action
Want to see what we're talking about? Below, we've included an OKAY, BETTER, and BEST resume summary. Which one do you like best?
- OKAY: Developed and implemented a national sales program that resulted in sizable revenue increases from organic growth and company acquisitions. Secured the first global client account last year. Shifted focus to new global accounts after a recent merger with another business unit.
- BETTER: Developed and implemented a national sales program in 2016 that resulted in sizable revenue increases from organic growth and company acquisitions — revenue was $41M in 2016 versus $95M in 2019. Secured first $2.5M global client account in December 2018. Shifted focus to new global accounts after a recent merger with another business unit.
- BEST: Developed and implemented a national sales program in 2016 that resulted in sizable revenue increases from organic growth and company acquisitions — revenue was $41M in 2016 versus $95M in 2019. Secured first $2.5M global client account in December 2018. Shifted focus to new global accounts after a recent merger with another business unit.
**We took skimmable content one step further in the BEST example by incorporating bold text. 😉
Looking at the 3 examples, notice how we took a content-heavy and flat resume summary and transformed it into something more eye-catching with some revenue numbers and years.
BONUS TACTIC
You can do something similar by front-loading your bullet points with numbers and percentages, essentially reversing the SAR writing style. This means you start with the result first, then proceed to the situation and action.
Check out these OKAY, BETTER, and BEST examples:
- OKAY: Provided documentation when applying for local and federal grants that supported kid's education programs conducted annually.
- BETTER: Provided documentation when applying for $1.3M in local and federal grants that supported kid's education programs conducted annually.
- BEST: Supported the acquisition of $1.3M in local and federal grants that funded approx. 25 kid's education programs annually.
**Notice how we eliminated "documentation" altogether from the BEST example. This slight content change moved the $1.3M closer to the start of the sentence while freeing up space to add "approx. 25" to the remaining two-thirds of the sentence.
Will you be able to add numbers like these to every resume you write?
Probably not.
There are job roles that are more task-based and don’t lend themselves well to achievements and other bits with numbers attached to them.
So, you're probably wondering ...
Can You Add Skimability to Resume Content Without Numbers?
Oh, you bet you can! Take the examples below into consideration:
- OKAY: Received multiple awards and distinctions throughout the academic year.
- BETTER: Received multiple awards and distinctions throughout the academic year, including Most Valuable Player and Player of The Year.
- BEST: Received MULTIPLE AWARDS and DISTINCTIONS throughout the academic year, including Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Player of The Year (POTY).
In this BEST example, we leveraged caps and acronyms to help draw the eye to this client's sports accomplishments.
Skimability is about increasing marketability. Highlighting the most notable career bits about our clients goes a long way toward our clients getting better ROI from the resumes we write.
