Vent: My resume rewrite took three whole weeks when I thought it would be a day

I needed to update my resume for a job I really wanted. I figured I'd just list my old jobs and skills, easy. But then I read about tailoring it with numbers and results, not just duties. I spent days trying to find old project numbers and results from my last role. I had to dig through old emails and reports from two years ago. It finally clicked after about 20 drafts and three weeks of work. Has anyone else had a simple task blow up like that when job hunting?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahw301mo ago

Dig through your old calendar for meetings you led or projects you closed. I found a number for "people trained" by looking at old webinar invites. Pull numbers from any praise emails too, like if a boss said you "saved the team 10 hours." That stuff is pure gold for the skills section.

lilys821mo ago

Isn't that just digging for stuff to make you sound better? I get what hannahw30 is saying about finding numbers, but it feels like padding. Most bosses just say "good job" in an email, not "saved 10 hours." Forcing numbers from old calendar invites seems like a stretch and makes the skills section look fake.

terryh201mo ago

Honestly, it's not fake if you actually did the work. You just have to think about it differently. Like, that "good job" email after a project? The project itself had a scope. Maybe you managed a vendor contract that was worth $5k, or you organized files for a team of 7 people. The number isn't in the praise, it's in the task you completed. It feels forced at first, but it's just translating your real work into terms a resume needs.