How to Describe Yourself on a Resume
A good resume is key to landing that first step toward your dream job. It’s your opportunity to showcase your skills and experience and prove to a prospective employer that you can offer value to their company. But knowing the limitations of how detailed a resume should be, how do you even begin to introduce yourself in that one- or two-page document?
For the most part, your achievements should speak for themselves, but you can boost yourself up and highlight your accomplishments by being smart about the language you use. The best way to describe yourself in a resume is to construct your descriptions in a way that sells your skills and experience while using relevant adjectives and strong action words. If you need help upgrading your resume into an effective work-landing piece, hiring professional resume writing services from The Jub is the way to go!
Tips for Describing Yourself on a Resume
Can you get hired without a resume? In some rare cases, yes–but for the majority of jobs, a resume is required to evaluate the qualifications of people who want to join a company. This is why you must know how to write one, and that includes being able to describe yourself properly in a professional document. Here are some tips to get you started:
Sell Yourself
Think of your resume like a sales pitch of yourself. You only have this space to prove your value to a company, so you have to make the most out of it. That means highlighting all the relevant details while hyping up the information that you think will most impress your recruiter.
Boost Adjectives With Achievements
It’s tempting to drop in multiple adjectives in your resume, but that’s not going to help you with anything if you don’t have any hard data to back it up. Choose your adjectives wisely, staying away from generic ones. Some eye-catching ones include:
- Competent
- Creative
- Experienced
- Detail-oriented
- Decisive
- Self-motivated
- Flexible
- Efficient
- Organized
Then, make sure to back each adjective up with an accomplishment that’s relevant to it. For example, you can describe yourself as an organized project manager that successfully handled ten accounts simultaneously, or as a creative marketing officer that pitched the idea for an award-winning campaign.
Use Strong Action Verbs
In the employment history or professional experience section of your resume, you must list your work and achievements in your past positions. When describing this, make sure to lead with strong action verbs, such as:
- Produced
- Delivered
- Managed
- Achieved
- Spearheaded
- Completed
- Collaborated
- Facilitated
- Negotiated
Constructing your sentences this way also helps in making your resume more concise and straightforward.
Let Your Experience Speak for Itself
If you have a lot of experience already, then you shouldn’t worry too much about having to fluff up your resume. Let your previous achievements speak for themselves, and simply focus on ensuring that your accomplishments are boosted with actual data.
Focus on the Highlights
Your resume isn’t an autobiography, so you don’t have to delve into all the details that led you to achieve what you have. Just focus on the most important details, taking extra care to highlight experience, accomplishments, and skills that are relevant to the specific job you’re applying for. Be sure to check the job description so that you can mention the qualifications listed there.
Final Thoughts
When describing yourself on a resume, you must always remember the purpose of the document—to get you a job. With that in mind, think about what a recruiter wants to hear. Sell yourself in a short, informative, and professional way, using deliberate language that uses adjectives backed by achievements and strong action verbs that exhibit your value. Highlight what you’re good at and what you can bring to the table, and let your experience speak for itself.
For more tips on how to write a resume that will land you the job you want, check out the career resources from The Jub!
Author: Becky is a contributor for theJub. She’s a writing and talent acquisition specialist who loves to apply her skills through creative writing and editing.
