Your Story. Your Message. Your Brand. Your Snapshot. Your Resume.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗻𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲.

Your resume must tell your personal story. Your message must be succinct. Your personal brand is on the line. Your career snapshot is necessary.

✔️Employers love knowing who you are (your brand).

✔️Employers love knowing what value you offer (your message).

✔️Employers love knowing how you can make their lives easier if they hired you while resolving their pain points because of the open position (your story).

✔️Employers love a resume summarizing you. (your snapshot).

The easiest way to help build your personal story?

👉 Start collecting your narratives, wins, achievements, whatever you want to call them, on day 1. What you collect them in is called a brag book 📓.

👉 Don’t wait until year 3, because then you’re relying on the old think tank, and who knows how your memory will work.

👉 Don’t rely on that steel trap.

📓 Rely on the trusty old brag book.

From the ever so insightful, Katharine Hansen, who says in her Tell Me About Yourself book:

“𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳. 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘫𝘰𝘣, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘹 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺-𝘵𝘰-𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣. 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱. 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮-𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴.”

My approach when writing these accomplishments are as follows: *Make sure each line under your experience section is either:
✅ Metrics-based with quantifiable or operational language showing your impact on the bottom-line
✅ Relatable and resonates with the hiring team in respect to the opening, meaning reverse-engineer from the job description and put those tasks into your resume, but in story form and how you personally accomplished something relating to that task
✅ Overall really cool or unique items that show you are a well-rounded candidate, such as high-profile clients, being featured in the media or company newsletter, winning an award, or giving a speech at an association event

*if the line doesn’t fall under these categories, drop it!

🤔Are you having trouble communicating your stories and message on your resume? Reach out, be glad to help. My specialty is taking a paragraph of a nice win and converting it into a resume-esque sentence with as few letters as possible so you can streamline the reading while keeping the readers interested, full of clarity, and engaged.

💥Interview time, baby!

🗣️Then, use that resume as a crutch during the interview…use it to identify which narrative will work best against the question posed, and expand further about each of these neat accomplishments you’ve completed and skills you’re acquired over time!