Tell An Interesting Story In Your Résumé, And You'll Stand Out To Hiring Managers. Guaranteed.

For many of us, a good résumé is what stands between us and the job of our dreams. But if your résumé game is weak, though, you may end up stressing yourself out, obsessively refreshing your emails and checking your phone every few minutes for a single response. Sure, we've objective statistics to tell us what the ideal résumé length is, or what should and shouldn't be included in it - but that's the boring stuff. What separates a good résumé from a great resume is your ability to guide the recruiter on a journey.

So, you’re probably wondering how you can write a resume (the right way!) that will get a recruiter interested in meeting you. We’ll walk you through the G.O.A.T. in resume-writing — the storytelling resume.

Tell The Story, an authentic story of yourself — what you are like, what you do, and what you’re looking for — in a way that evokes a desire in your reader to meet you and learn more.

What is a storytelling resume?

Now, let’s be clear. You do not have to be an exceptional writer, nor do you need to weave a fictional story into your resume. Rather, we are suggesting you tell The Story, an authentic story of yourself — what you are like, what you do, and what you’re looking for — in a way that evokes a desire in your reader to meet you and learn more.

So, how do you write a storytelling resume? Like all good stories, your resume should comprise of key elements that keep your audience engaged. There are three aspects through which you can craft a storytelling resume. Let’s deep dive into each aspect.

Context in a resume is key

First off, tell a story of what you do. Think of “Context” as a story you are telling about your experience.

Need some ideas? List your day-to-day responsibilities, what you have worked on, what are your projects and responsibilities, and what are your challenges. This story delves into and how and why you are great to work with.

The secret is bragging about yourself — not like someone who is full of themselves, but brag about yourself just like your favourite co-worker would brag about you.

Actions - the big and small accomplishments

When writing about what you do, it can be tempting to just list your accomplishments in bullet points. Try doing it another way: an alternative is to highlight a typical day at work, the steps taken to complete a task and how to solve an issue.

If yours sounds dry, we recommend throwing in some top traits that make you an awesome person to work with.

Result - the outcome of your actions

What are the outcomes of what you did? How did what you do impact your team? A more effective approach to “Result” is to think — how did the company benefit from what you did?

This is ultimately what most recruiters are looking for — how you have made a change and how you will be looking to make a change in their company. End your resume by answering all the previous elements you try to paint in your resume.

Summarise - keep your resume short and simple

The key to writing a good storytelling resume is show, don’t tell. Your resume tells an interesting story that knocks on someone’s door and invites them to a story of who you are and the value you bring.

Though we're sure you'd love to talk about yourself and give prospects the full picture of your journey - it's imperative to keep things short and to-the-point.

Above all, a resume should succeed in telling YOUR story and experience whilst maintaining brevity.

That’s the purpose of a resume — to attract recruiters and hiring managers who will want to know more about you.

Want to get started on your job-seeking journey on the right foot? We have a free job-seeking bundle which includes editable press kit template, CV template, cover letter template, how to ace an interview and more.

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Nailed your storytelling resume? Let’s get your job-hunting journey cracking! Search hundreds of job openings on Cult Creative today. Download the Cult Creative app on the App Store and Google Play.

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