“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end becuase once you get there, you can move mountains." - Steve Jobs

Introduction:

This will single handedly be the best change you can make in how you think about your resume building strategy to get more interviews.

Have you been wondering why the stellar resume you've sent out to dozens of companies hasn't resulted in any interviews? Have you found yourself struggling to know what you should or shouldn't include in your resume? We're going to talk about one of the most common causes we've seen for these dilemmas and an easy fix for them.

So without further ado, build your resume like Apple markets the iPhone! 👊

After looking at almost one hundred thousand candidate applications, I've noticed a common mistake that seems to be made by many; the overcomplicating of their resumes. There's a common theme that when someone has experience, they try to list as much of it as they can, resulting in a multiple paged resume. Sometimes even as much as 4 pages long.

But there's a better way. More isn't always better when it comes to resume building and I'm here to prove it to you.

WHY IS APPLE SO GOOD AT SELLING THEIR PRODUCTS?

Disclaimer before I start - I love Apple. That said, have you ever wondered how they're able to sell so many iPhones even though the differences between the latest and previous models are minimal? Last year they sold just shy of 98 million iPhones. So how are they able to sell so many phones year after year when the latest model is almost identical to the one before it? It’s because they know how to market their product to their target audience.

Now, the reason I bring that up is because, aren’t you as a candidate just marketing yourself to your target employer? Once you start thinking about your job hunting experience as one big marketing campaign, it changes how you view and go about your efforts.

I think the key to true self marketing is to mirror the example of some of our most popular brands like Apple, Nike, Starbucks. They all have some things in common, and my favorite is how they highlight their products.

HERE'S WHY APPLE IS GREAT AT SELLING THEMSELVES:

1. They resist the urge to give out every detail, and instead focus on the best parts.

   If they gave out every detail about the techniques their employees use to build the iPhone, or every backend code that goes into building the application store software, we as consumers wouldn’t care one bit. But, they keep it to the features that we’ll care most about, like the super strong titanium build or the “all day” battery life.

2. They spread highlighted key features across multiple products that build off each other to create a well rounded and cohesive product line.

   If they talked about each product’s identical features, we wouldn’t feel we needed to buy both their phone and watch, or macbook and ipad. However, they’ve done a great job at mastering the ability to talk about each product’s unique features as something that can help build off and connect to the other products in the line, like the iPad’s ability to become a second screen to the MacBook Pro, or Apple Watch’s ability to view texts sent to your phone.

SO, HOW CAN YOU FOLLOW APPLE'S GREAT MARKETING TECHNIQUES AND PUT THEM INTO OUR OWN RESUME?

1. Resist the urge to include every little detail about your job history in your resume.

   Especially if you have a lot of experience. List the most recent job you’ve had and then list the next top 2 to 3 other jobs you’ve had in the past. What I’d consider as the top contenders would be the ones that match the closest to the job you’re applying for.

2. Don’t highlight the same things in every job.

   If you’re applying for a customer support role, maybe you list your customer satisfaction highlights in one job and your team work accomplishments in the next.

3. Don’t list all your job responsibilities from each job.

   Be like Apple and highlight the top features, or in other words, your biggest accomplishments and impacts from each job you list. If you can list number stats to back up your highlights, do it. Recruiters love that.

So remember, be like Apple and highlight the best features, don’t give too much info, and diversify which highlights you’re giving from each job so you can paint a well rounded picture for recruiters. The easier you make it for them to see your selling points, the faster you’ll start getting interview call backs. 

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