Lydia's resume Case Study

The challenge

Lydia had great experience and was good at writing, but the resume she wrote wasn’t landing her any interviews.

Her previous resume had listed all of her jobs correctly. She is good at writing so you would think her resume would be great, but she wasn't getting any interviews.

How Edie, a TopResume writer, helped Lydia

First, Lydia wasn't highlighting what others might find valuable in her. She was really proud of a few achievements – and they were impressive – but she didn't call out the skillset she really wanted to leverage. I know the industry and exactly what hiring managers are looking for, and when I asked Lydia what she envisioned doing next, there was a match!

Second, she was applying to a lot of jobs online. Applicant Tracking Systems weren't flagging her as a match when employers searched for people with her experience. So I included keywords relevant to the positions she was applying to. Our resume parsing software wasn't even picking up "Legal" which was her primary industry.

Lastly, I made a few design edits and made sure there was enough empty space for a hiring manager’s eye to not be overwhelmed. Her design worked, but was very plain and sometimes distracting to the human eye, so I cleaned it up to get her in the door.

My job is to make sure a hiring manager wants to meet her and ask more questions, so that's what I tried to do.

In her own words

The word thrilled comes to mind. The resume I received was perfect and I’ve had three interviews SO FAR after sending my new resume. Previously, I had sent over 100 resumes with virtually no response. The ONLY thing that’s changed is the way my new resume is worded and how it’s laid out.

Package details

Lydia bought the Mid-Level package as well as a resume promotion and a thank-you letter. The base package includes a resume, cover letter, and two revisions:

• Specially designed package to present your management skills and promote you as a leader!
• Personal Engagement - In-depth understanding of your managerial skills and experience.
• Executive keywords - The right keywords to highlight your expertise and decision making abilities.
• Executive layout - Formatting that will highlight your managerial skills.
• Three revisions - We will incorporate your comments on the rewritten versions.
• 60-day interview guarantee - We re-write your resume again if you do not get an interview within 60 days.

Lydia also bought:

• Follow-Up Thank You Letter - Other than the cover letter, the second most important piece of your personal branding is your follow-up communication.