Resume Writing Workshop 🔴 Day 3: Bullets + Career Highlights

Resume Writing Workshop 2025 - Day 3 Summary

Key Concepts:

• Resume Bullets: Construction, effectiveness, and strategic selection.
• Career Highlights: Choosing the right bullets to showcase at the top of the resume.
• Great Eight: Major accomplishments (generating revenue, increasing market awareness, customer satisfaction, customer acquisition, improving employee happiness, reducing costs, making processes more efficient, helping a company grow).
• Delta: The change or impact resulting from an action (quantified whenever possible).
• Action Verbs: Strong vs. weak verbs for bullet points.
• Peak Hiring Season: November through February.

1. Resume Bullets: Construction and Effectiveness

• Importance: Well-written bullets are crucial for making a strong impression.
• Thinking Process: Consider how accomplishments can be framed to highlight value to employers. Focus on how you can help them transform their lives, teams, companies, and customers.
• Formula for Powerful Bullets:
  1. What happened? (The benefit, the effect) - e.g., "Increased software revenue..."
  2. By how much? (Quantify the impact) - e.g., "...78% from 9 million to 16 million..."
  3. When? (Timeframe, if it strengthens the bullet) - e.g., "...within two years."
  4. What did you do? (The cause, the activity) - e.g., "...by creating and operating a new selling model..."
  5. Who benefited? (If not clear) - e.g., "...for customers."
• Acid Test: Before moving on to the next bullet, ask: "What happened as a result of me doing what I did?"
• Examples of Effective Bullets:
  • "Grew companies IBIDA from 640 million to 7.3 billion during sixear span by closing international mergers and acquisitions in multiple continents; increased company's margins and IRRa by 12%."
  • "Increased software revenue 78% from 9 million to 16 million within two years by creating and operating a new selling model, expanding sales team, and executing targeted sales campaigns; new structure increase sales pipeline 49%; reduce sales cycle time by 60 days."
  • "Reduced working capital 38% from 365,000 to 227,000 by renegotiating payment terms from; effort resulted in improved inventory management and productivity gaining 3% additional profit."
  • "Saved 250,000 annually and increased customer renewal rates 24% by transitioning market scan information systems training from inerson to learning management system video-based model."
  • "Reduced number of custom reports from 168 to 12 by re-evaluating business needs and modernizing technology."
  • "Save 14 hours per week for entire office staff of 12 executives across multiple locations by eliminating manual processes."
• Good Verbs vs. Bad Verbs:
  • Good Verbs: Grew, Increased, Reduced, Saved, Transformed, Streamlined, Generated.
  • Bad Verbs: Started, Developed, Implemented, Helped, Participated, Managed, Handled.
• Key Takeaway: Start bullets with the benefit/impact, followed by quantification, timeframe (if beneficial), and then the action/activity.

2. Career Highlights: Choosing the Right Bullets

• Purpose: To showcase specific initiatives and results that align with the employer's goals and address their likely problems.
• Distinction from Career Profile: Career profile is an aggregate of professional experience, while highlights focus on specific initiatives and their effects.
• Process for Selecting Highlights:
  1. Identify Top Goals: What are the top 3 goals of the role/team/organization? How is the department graded?
  2. Review Job Description: Identify specific objectives, responsibilities, success factors, and success measures.
  3. Assess Impact: Does your work directly result in one of the Great Eight? Is it a prerequisite step or an ingredient?
• Examples:
  • Marketing Professional: Goals include increasing leads, decreasing cost per lead, and increasing conversion rates.
  • Customer Service: Goals include increasing customer satisfaction and retention.
• Action Items:
  1. Think about the companies you want to work for (consider different company segment types).
  2. Identify the Great Eight accomplishments you've achieved and what they would care most about.
  3. Identify stepping stone accomplishments.
  4. Write bullets based on the formula.
• Key Takeaway: Choose highlights that demonstrate your ability to solve problems and achieve goals relevant to the target position and organization.

3. Case Study: Jess, a Two-Time Boot Camper

• Situation: Jess, a sales enablement and training manager, faced unexpected layoffs twice. The second layoff occurred in early November, creating concerns about the holiday season and being the primary income earner.
• Challenges:
  • Quantifying the impact of a support role.
  • Overcoming the myth that hiring slows down during the holidays.
  • Feeling the need to dedicate herself to one job opportunity at a time.
• Actions:
  • Focused on the Great Eight to quantify her impact.
  • Recognized that hiring continues during the holidays.
  • Applied for multiple opportunities simultaneously.
  • Identified non-negotiables (remote work, pharma/biotech, work-life balance).
  • Targeted companies and people through boss hunting techniques.
• Results:
  • Sent out 20 boss hunting messages, received 9 direct responses and 5 interview invitations.
  • Received one offer and anticipated two more.
  • Negotiated a higher salary, sign-on bonus, senior title, and extra PTO for her top choice job.
  • Prioritized job fit and personal values over the highest compensation.
• Key Takeaways from Jess:
  • Trust the process.
  • Don't be afraid to send boss hunting emails.
  • Have a support system.
  • Focus on the value you bring.
  • Know your requirements.
  • Prep, prep, prep for interviews.
  • Pick one story and tell every story as a subset of that story.

4. Peak Hiring Season and Strategic Timing

• November - February: Peak hiring months due to fiscal year-end budgets, new projects, and employee mobility.
• Importance of Action: Don't "mail it in" during the holidays; maintain high gear in your job search.
• Reason for Workshop Timing: To prepare resumes and job search strategies before the peak season.

5. Job Search Coaching Program Overview

• Purpose: To provide a roadmap, support, and community for job seekers.
• Pillars:
  • Videos, tools, and templates.
  • Group coaching (Zoom sessions).
  • Online support (direct access to Andy).
  • Andy AI (digital clone).
  • Community.
  • Lifetime access.
• Interactive Service Plan: Includes all core features.
• VIP Package: Adds tailored services like resume review, one-to-one coaching, and a marketing review.
• Career Accelerator Program: Fast action bonus for joining the core package, focuses on the first 90 days on the job and career advancement.
• Key Takeaway: The program provides a comprehensive system to expedite the job search process, build confidence, and make informed decisions.

6. Q&A Highlights

• Replicating Bullets: Bullets in career highlights should also appear in the professional experience section to provide context and draw attention to key accomplishments.
• Combining Results: Avoid co-mingling specific highlights into a grouping. Keep highlights narrow to encourage interviewers to ask about specific projects.
• Highlight Focus: Bullets and career highlights should be geared toward the company's goals (Great Eight) and the role you are seeking.
• Transitioning Careers: Identify transferable skills and map them to the requirements of the target role.
• Quantifying Experience: Focus on the impact of your actions (e.g., saved work, reduced errors) rather than just the activities themselves.
• Overqualification: Don't dumb down your resume. Target roles that are worthy of your experience and focus on networking.
• Grad School Courses: Do not include courses under the experience section. List them under education.

Synthesis/Conclusion

Day 3 of the Resume Writing Workshop focused on crafting effective resume bullets and strategically selecting career highlights to showcase your value to potential employers. The key is to quantify your impact, align your accomplishments with the employer's goals, and present a clear and compelling narrative. The case study of Jess highlighted the importance of trusting the process, networking, and prioritizing job fit over compensation. Finally, the overview of the Job Search Coaching Program emphasized the value of having a roadmap, support system, and community to navigate the job search process successfully.