How to build a richer resume narrative

When writing content for a resume, it's completely natural to focus your energy on the core responsibilities of your job: the functions you oversee, the protocols and processes you own, and the role you play at the leadership table. I'd even say that listing out your responsibilities can be a great starting point for any resume.

But if you want your resume to leave a powerful and lasting impression on your reader, I would place your energies on the deeper, more consequential aspects of your work.

Ask yourself the following to build a richer resume narrative.

1. What is the true scale of the work you do? How many customers or patients or employees does your work impact? Does the scope extend to just your immediate site, or does it include sites around the globe? How does that scope translate into budgets and resources?

2. Where exactly do you sit in the product, customer, and/or project lifecycle? If you were plucked from the machine today, and nobody was hired to replace you, how would the machine fall apart?

3. What aspects of strategy are you responsible for developing or changing? What did you inherit in your role? What did you introduce?

4. Where are the boundaries of your influence? Where are the places where your influence has little to no impact, and why?

5. What is the financial significance of your work? What revenue did your work help to produce? What costs or waste did you eliminate?

—
Follow #GabbyTurmelle on LinkedIn