How to Write A Resume Like Google's CEO

The ultimate resume writing guide to get hired in a competitive job market

As a recruiter reads an excellent resume, it should capture their attention the way you can’t help but binge watch Dynasty. Okay, so maybe your resume has a little less drama and a touch more professionalism, but a stellar resume will leave the recruiter wanting to know more.

This resume writing guide reveals my top secrets for showing the recruiter you are the best applicant for the job, including the game changing tip I learned from Google. It will teach you how to write a resume to get hired.

These resume practices helped me get hired at a Fortune 50 U.S. corporation with a <1% acceptance rate.

Learn how to write a resume with advanced resume tips to land interviews at your top companies in a competitive job market.

Write like a CEO

Imagine you find yourself in the elevator with the recruiter. You only have seconds to make a strong first impression. Strong enough that the recruiter wants to have a conversation with you to learn more.

That’s the role your resume must play, capturing the recruiter’s attention within seconds. According to Indeed, the typical recruiter skims a resume for only 7 seconds.

That means you must write your resume like a CEO. How you write about your experiences matters more than the experiences themselves.

Sometimes I hear people say, “I don’t have enough experience for that role.” More often than not, these people don’t know how to effectively communicate their experiences from previous roles.

So how do you write compelling bullet points? Every bullet point must contain these 3 elements:

Context
Action
Result

You can remember this approach by its acronym: CAR.

For example, let’s say you worked in retail at a clothing store. Did you help customers find clothes that matched their style?

You could say…

Helped customers find clothes that matched their style

But if you told a recruiter that in the elevator, would that impress them enough to invite you for an interview? No, especially considering it does not include all elements of a strong bullet point (Context, Action, Result).

Often people, especially women, underestimate their contributions in their role. Here are some prompts to help you remember your biggest accomplishments.

Did you achieve strong results or win any awards?
Did you improve any systems or processes?
Did you develop others?
Did others go to you for help with anything?
Did you increase company revenues?
Did you save the company resources? (e.g., money, time, etc.)

The recruiter wants to please the hiring manager by finding the best talent. Businesses ultimately want to hire people who will make the company money, usually through increasing revenues or decreasing costs.

With that in mind, let’s write new bullet points for our friend who worked in retail, following the CAR format.

Performed consistently as a top seller with average quarterly sales 2% higher than store averages by actively listening to customers to recommend relevant products
Recognized as associate of the month for exceptional customer service based on 3 written customer reviews

You may have noticed these bullet points contain numbers. Every single bullet point should have a tangible result and include a number whenever possible because it adds credibility.

You may also have noticed these bullet points begin with the result, not the context. Google recommends using this formula, “Accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z.”

That’s because when recruiters skim a resume, they have the greatest chance of seeing the first several words.

My best advanced resume writing tip is to arrange your resume so that you put the most relevant and impressive information in places the recruiter is most likely to skim.

The top of your resume and the left hand side are natural places a recruiter will notice first. Since resumes list experiences in reverse chronological order, it may not always work to put your best experiences at the top.

If you have an important bullet point you want the recruiter to see, you can use strategic emphasis, like selective bolding, to direct their attention as well.

Lastly, a CEO would never share irrelevant information. Instead, she would tailor her message based on her audience. This advanced resume writing tip deserves its own section, so keep reading.

Tailor your resume.

If you can make the recruiter look good for inviting you to interview, you’ve written a good resume. You make the recruiter look good by writing a resume that makes the recruiter think, “She seems like a great fit for this role. I need to learn more.”

Now often this is where I lose people. Why? Because this tailoring takes time and effort. While many people dream of landing a role at their top companies, most refuse to put in the work required.

My bet is if you’ve made it this far, you’re one of the few who will do what it takes to get the results you want.

This step probably isn’t needed for minimum wage jobs, but if you want to work for a Fortune 500 company or get hired for any ultra competitive roles, then this step will significantly increase your odds of getting an interview.

An average job posting gets 250 applicants. Only 10 get selected for interviews. Then 1 candidate lands the position.

I’d say this data suggests even the average job has high competition!

The process of applying to jobs online is similar to online dating.

Step 1: Read their profile AKA job description to see if there could be a mutual fit.

Step 2: You’ve decided to move forward with them. Thoroughly review the description to find commonalities. (I literally copy the job description into a Google document and highlight all the skills, qualifications, and experiences I have.)

Step 3: Now that you understand what’s needed for this specific role, it’s time to do a thorough background check. Think of this the way you do your due diligence before meeting someone you met online IRL. Find all social media profiles including LinkedIn, the latest news stories, the company website, his mom’s facebook, any arrest records, etc. Through this, gain a strong understanding of company values, corporate culture, and communication styles. Unlike online dating, hopefully most companies will pass your background check.

Step 4: Assuming the company passed your background check, write a resume using all this information to show the recruiter you can successfully do the role and fit in with the company.

If you do these steps correctly, you will never submit the same resume for different roles again. Yes, that means you edit your resume for every single role you apply to. Not everyone will adopt this approach, but again the best candidates will.

I simplify this process for myself by creating a master resume first. I spend the most time here writing the bullet points that best describe my experiences based on the type of role I am applying for. Then this becomes my starting point that I then tweak for each specific role I apply to.

When I was seeking full time jobs right after undergrad, I was applying for 3 distinct types of roles: consulting, marketing, and analytics. I created 3 master resumes for each job type, then used the most relevant one to further tailor for each specific job.

You may be wondering, is it worth it to do all that work? Let’s take a look at the data.

On average it takes 20 to 80 applications to get a job. On the low end, that’s a 5% acceptance rate and on the high end that’s a 1% acceptance rate. Using these advanced resume tips, I had a 4% acceptance rate in 2020 and an 8% acceptance rate in 2022.

I’ll also add in 2022 I learned new resume optimization tips I didn’t know in 2020. I also applied to more competitive roles in 2022 that were significantly superior to my current role. (I went from an assistant at a small company to a manager at a Fortune 50 company. Again, it’s all about how effectively you communicate the impact of your contributions.)

Technology makes the recruiter’s lives easier by pre-scanning resumes for keywords from the job description. If your resume doesn’t meet the criteria, then a person will never even see your resume.

Some TikTokers recommend copying and pasting keywords from the job description in white text into your resume. While you need keywords in your resume, I have never used this questionable practice.

Some softwares will catch this and throw your resume out. Additionally, if the recruiter then sees your resume without the required criteria, she will manually throw you out then.

Instead, organically integrate the keywords into your bullet points. Replace the language in your bullet points with the verbatim language used in the job description wherever applicable.

Remember earlier when I suggested highlighting all the commonalities between your skills and experiences in the job description? Now is the time to work all those synergies into your resume.

What if you have work experience that doesn’t relate to the position?

When you tailor your resume, every single piece of information should further convince the recruiter you are right for the job. It should leave no doubt in their mind.

If your bullet points about an experience don’t have relevance for the position, you have two options. Either write new bullet points that have relevance or exclude the experience from your resume.

This practice works exceptionally well when you have enough experiences that you don’t have room to fit them all on one page anyway.

Another advanced resume tip for you: incorporate your values and passions into your resume. Bonus points if they align with the company values too!

For example, I’m dedicated to improving financial equity among men and women through the work I do here on Health Self and Wealth. That’s on my resume.

I encourage you to integrate the social causes you care about in your resume. I predict employers will become increasingly more intentional about hiring people with passions for social causes, especially among top companies.

A good writer makes it easy for their audience to take away the key message. A well written resume should make it easy for the recruiter to see you are the right candidate to interview.

Master the details

These final advanced resume tips may seem basic, but I used to review resumes and too many people neglect these details.

Now despite Hannah Montana’s song, “Nobody’s Perfect,” your resume requires perfection. A recruiter has to go from 250 candidates to just 10!

When they skim a resume, they look for a mistake or any reason to eliminate you.

Here are 10 details to double check before hitting submit.

Spell check your resume.
Include company name, your title, dates employed, and location for all your experiences.
Double check your verb tense. All bullet points should start with a verb. If it’s a previous role, it should be past tense. If it’s a current role, it should be present tense.
Format consistently. (I’ve always caught a formatting error in every resume I’ve reviewed. Inconsistencies make it much harder to skim!)
1. Fonts.
2. Font sizes.
3. Headings.
4. Spacing.
5. Alignment.
All content fits on one page.
Your resume uses specific keywords from the job description so you can pass the technology scans.
Your resume only contains the truth. Plan like you’ll have to speak on anything and everything on your resume in an interview.
You bold the most important information a recruiter might otherwise miss while skimming. (Be highly selective with this though!)
Delete any unnecessary words. Your resume should be clear and concise to make it easy to skim!
Give a friend a highlighter, your resume, and 7 seconds to see what catches their eye. If they are not the most important details, figure out how to emphasize what you do want the recruiter to see.

Have a friend check the rest of these details too. A fresh set of eyes will catch mistakes you won’t notice yourself.

You can also print your resume because seeing it in a different context will help you notice details.

Master these details to avoid giving the recruiter any reason to throw yours out. So many mistakes come from simple formatting inconsistencies.

To prevent inconsistencies, you can download my free resume template here.

Conclusion

The more effort you put into writing your best resume, the better roles you can attract. These advanced tips for how to write a resume like a CEO, tailor your resume, and master the details will set you apart from other applicants in a competitive job market.

This especially matters if you want an ultra exclusive role at a top corporation. Although because most jobs get 250 applicants on average and only 1 person gets hired, most roles have tough competition!

The competition matters much less when you write a stellar resume that makes the recruiter say, “I have to know more.” Just like me when Netflix starts playing the next episode in the current drama I’m binge watching.

If you only implement one piece of advice from this advanced resume writing guide, I recommend the tip from Google on writing compelling bullet points.

Now get ready to write, or should I say type, your best resume yet!

Want more career advice to help you make more money?