You’re Amazing! But is Your Resume?
We have the opportunity at Bryant Group to review thousands of resumes. Some immediately rise to the top. What makes a resume stand out from the rest?
Recently our CEO was asked by two friends – longtime and successful leaders in fundraising – to personally give them feedback on their resumes. We know how talented these two professionals are, and yet, found that, in each case, their resume alone would not have impressed us. In fact, it may have not even garnered them an interview. The realization that some of the best in the business are not as adept at marketing themselves as they are at marketing their institutions got us to thinking about the elements of a successful resume.
No matter your area of expertise or your level of experience, we hope you will find some useful information here.
Do: Create a full picture, including broader context first
To write a good resume, it is important to start bigger than yourself. After each position listed on your resume, begin with a brief description of your organization for context, then quickly and briefly funnel down to the development or advancement function, and then to your role. See example.
Associate Vice President, Development 3/2016 - present
ABC Academic Medical Center, City, State (always include location)
ABC AMC is the largest academic medical center in State, with an operating budget of $6B, 2 hospitals and 125,000 alumni. The 150-person development team (including frontline fundraisers, leaders, and supporting functions) raised $250M in fiscal year 2022 and is currently engaged in an 8-year $2B campaign. As the AVP of Development, I lead a team of 75 (including 8 direct reports) and am responsible for campaign management and strategy.
Do: Show how you make a difference.
Now that there is context, it is time to show your impact. This means reflecting on your accomplishments in three arenas – as a leader, as a team member, and individually. Avoid the temptation to make this section a rewrite of your job description (boring). Accomplishments and results will get your resume noticed.
Include these key accomplishments and what you’re most proud of:
Numbers and results (qualify and quantify).
Other leadership qualities that can be shown through your daily work.
Creative initiatives.
An example of common resume language:
Led team that raised a record amount in 2022. Increase of 25% over previous year.
Manage a portfolio of 150 donors rated at $1M and above.
Staff the development committee chair of the Board of Trustees.
Manage campaign strategy for the largest campaign in the organization’s history ($6B), including serving on the President’s campaign council.
This is interesting, but not compelling. For example, percentage increases mean very little without specific dollar amounts included.
Best resume language:
Led team that raised a record amount of $50M in 2022, up from the previous record of $40M in 2021, an increase of 25%.
Manage a portfolio of 150 donors, rated at $1M and above. Led solo and team solicitations–involving direct reports, development colleagues, academic leadership, and the president–resulting in $25M from donors in my portfolio during FY 2022.
In partnership with the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the Chair of the Development Committee, led strategy and involvement for trustees in development and campaign activity. Gifts from the board and from board introduction to their networks increased 50% through these efforts, from $15M in 2021 to $22.5M in 2022.
Manage campaign planning and strategy for the largest campaign ($6B goal) in the organization’s history, including providing recommendations to the Vice President and serving on the leadership council advising the President during the campaign.
Spearheaded a partnership with an external social organization (previously not connected to the Medical Center) in support of our mission, effectively enabling ABC AMC to reduce ER visits by high-repeat users by 90%. Survey of these previous ER frequent visitors shows significant improvement in health and overall wellness through this program.
Now I’m intrigued and I want to know more.
Sometimes it’s difficult to see the big-picture accomplishments in the details of your every day. These questions may help:
Have we set any records during my tenure? What was my role in that?
What would not have been accomplished if I wasn’t here?
What might not have turned out as well if I had not been involved?
How can I articulate my role in those successes authentically and directly?
The last question is important: you want to be humble and recognize team accomplishments appropriately, but do not diminish your role in the success.
Do: Tailor your resume.
The old school of thought was to get your one resume ready and then tailor your cover letter for each position. Today, to stand out, you need to tailor your resume to the job. Sometimes you may not even get to a live person if you don’t first get past an artificial intelligence or keyword matching screener. The screener will look for certain words and “decide” if you are qualified. Where do you find those keywords? In the job description. Look for required qualifications, the highest-level activities and themes to determine keywords that you will want to incorporate.
Do: Pay attention to details and aesthetics.
Spell check is your friend and your eagle-eye real live human friend (as a proofreader) is even more important. Your resume creates a first impression, and recruiters and hiring authorities will assume it is your best work. If you’re not paying attention now, we may wonder how well you will pay attention once you have the job.
No pictures on your resume. Keep graphics to a minimum. This document represents you as a professional; it is a marketing piece, but not a marketing brochure. Less is definitely more.
Include the month as well as the year for when each position began/ended, and if you’re on LinkedIn, take a few moments to ensure the information on your resume matches your profile.
If you use a professional resume writer, do not assume they understand the terminology of the business and do not assume they use spell-check. Also, I would rather see some of your personality in your resume, than the same format I’ve seen from 100 other people.
Do: Use real language. Professional, but real.
Business jargon strung together is not useful. When it gets too jargon-saturated, it can even become difficult to comprehend intended meaning.
Example:
Aggregated and disseminated statistical data to principal counsel leadership for forward-planning, capitalizing on core competencies.
This is not how people talk. Clear, everyday language is better.
Created a report showing return on investment for potential new hires. Presented to Advisory Board with recommendations for future staffing, focusing on our proven strengths in major gift fundraising and donor engagement.
These simple steps will make us take notice of a resume. That is your door to a conversation. Which is the door to an opportunity. Which may change your life.
