3 Ways to Make Your Resume Easy to Skim (Especially for Recruiters)

I like this recent Glassdoor post on making your resume easy for recruiters to skim. I earn my living by finding on-point candidates for employers quickly, so help me evaluate you! Here are the top points I agree with:

1. Use standard headings. It helps me when you follow the legal resume template of 1-2 pages (1 page if you are less than 10 years out, 2 pages if you have more than 10 years). The resume should lead with your name and contact info at the top. Don’t include your bar info up here at the top(my eyes will likely skip this relevant information because it’s in the wrong place). If you are junior (or have standout schools), put Education next, then Experience, and then end with Bar Admissions. If you are a senior lawyer, after your name/location should be Experience, then Education, then Bar Admissions. It’s ok to include non-legal work (especially if it’s in tech or business) under Experience; just show how it’s relevant. Your interests rarely make a difference, so if you are out of room, don’t include.
2. Use numbers and symbols to make your achievements jump off the page in a sea of text. Don’t follow Bluebook or MLA guidelines.
3. Use bullet points. Large blocks of text make it hard to skim. Similarly, too many bullets also are bad. I find 3 to 6 bullets for each employer to be ideal. Group your relevant experience under these points. For example, for a corporate attorney, the skills I want to see are: counseling X teams/senior management, corporate governance (SEC filings for public company attorneys),and M&A. For an employment lawyer, I expect to see: counseling on X issues, litigating employment matters, supporting M&A, drafting handbooks, and conducting training.

The takeaway: I need to know in a glance what you do. If you can’t identify your top skills for me, it’s not my job to pick that out.