Building a Resume Before Starting Your Job Search

Most geoscientists have a resume. But if you don't have a 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦, you'll struggle to remember your own greatness when it’s time to update it. This is not a resume you send out with applications or to recruiters - it's your internal career database, your personal archive of everything you've accomplished. Building one also helps you spot trends - those subtle shifts in your skills, interests and impact that show how your career has evolved. Once you open your eyes to these, you can start asking yourself what these shifts mean for your future direction. Here's what I recommend to my clients: 1️⃣ Set a timer for 25 minutes and 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀. Don’t format - just write. Work backward through your career. Go back as far as you can - even if you won’t use that lab tech experience from 25 years ago on a resume today, it’s still valuable to acknowledge. 2️⃣ Grab your 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 and spend another focused session filling in what you missed. Repeat these sessions until you’ve captured your full career story. 3️⃣ Review what you’ve written and format it as 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀. Move from narrative to resume-style bullet points. Example: “Reduced plume-area uncertainty by 40% by modeling contaminant transport using MODFLOW.” 4️⃣ Reframe your bullet points for impact using three lenses - 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹, 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, and 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹. Ask: 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳? - 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹: What did I do to address the challenge?   - 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: What was the driver and value created?   - 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹: How did I demonstrate things like teamwork, communication, or leadership? At this point, you have your master database of experiences and accomplishments. If you are ever in another job search, you have a great resource from which to pull resume content. A 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 is more than a document - it’s a record of a career well lived. As you read it, take a moment for introspection: What have you learned? What insights have you gained? How have you changed? Do you have a 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦? If not, start building one this week - your future self will thank you.

Your resume has two audiences, The ATS and the human recruiter. If you don’t pass the first, you’ll never reach the second. After helping thousands of job seekers land interviews, I can tell you, most rejections happen before a person even reads your resume. The reason? ATS formatting mistakes that block your application from being seen. Here’s my complete ATS Resume Do’s and Don’ts guide. (Save this post, you’ll need it for your next application) ✅ DO’s: ➡ Use standard resume sections – “Work Experience,” “Education,” “Skills.” Keep it clear. ➡ Match exact keywords from the job posting – “Project management” ≠ “Managing projects.” ➡ Stick to ATS-friendly fonts – Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman. ➡ Use standard bullet points – Simple round dots work best. ➡ Submit in PDF or .docx format – nothing else. ❌ DON’Ts: ➡ No tables, text boxes, headers/footers, or images – ATS can’t read them. ➡ Skip creative formatting – No columns, no sidebars. Keep it single column. ➡ Avoid colors, graphics, charts, or logos – They get scrambled. ➡ Don’t trick the system – No white text, no keyword stuffing. ➡ Never submit scanned docs or image files – ATS can’t read them. Pro Tips I always share with my clients: 👉 Test your resume in a free ATS scanner before applying. 👉 Focus on achievements, not just duties. 👉 Keep formatting consistent. 👉 Add a clean, simple summary. 👉 Use standard headings. I’ve seen too many talented professionals lose opportunities because their resumes never reached a recruiter’s desk. Don’t let this happen to you. P.S. If you want more updated strategies, Join my Career Spotlight Group. It’s where I share my latest resources before they go public. 📌 Join here- https://lnkd.in/gB22r3_b #ATSResume #JobSearch #CareerCoach

Resume Help! One of my favorite things to do when talking to a candidate about a job is helping with their resume. Not just for the position we’re discussing, but to give overall advice and suggestions that help them get calls for the right opportunities in the market. Here are a few of the main things I go over with everyone: ✅ Start with the basics. Your first and last name (not just an initial). City, state, and zip - You don’t need your full address, but those three are searchable pieces of data that help recruiters find you. Even if you’re targeting remote jobs, I still want to know your time zone (CST, EST, PST). Make sure your email, phone number, and LinkedIn URL are listed. You don’t need a picture on your resume, just make sure your LinkedIn has one. 💡 Pro tip: Save your resume file as your first and last name “Crystal Rehling” and nothing else. ✅ Have a summary, not an objective. Your summary is your elevator pitch. It should highlight the quantifiable, tangible skills you’re bringing to your next role. Someone should read your summary and know what job they would hire you for! Be specific. Skip the soft skills here; people will gauge those when they meet you. Use this space for hard data and measurable impact. 💻 If you’re in IT: Right after your summary, include a Core Technical Skills section. This should list your key tools, systems, and technologies, things like programming languages, ERP systems, CRM platforms, or integration tools. It gives hiring managers an instant snapshot of your capabilities before diving into your experience. ✅ Prioritize your recent experience. Your most recent roles should have the most detail. For positions 10+ years old, stick to main highlights or list a brief technical environment section. You can even say “previous experience available upon request” or just list the company, title, and dates without bullet points. 🎓 Education goes last. Unless you’re a recent grad, your education should appear at the end of your resume. Let your professional experience lead the story. 🌐 Finally: Make sure all of this information is also on your LinkedIn profile. It’s searchable data that helps recruiters find you for your next job. Someone mentioned to me recently that she was told to keep her LinkedIn brief since people can see the details on her resume. I completely disagree! If your profile isn’t complete and detailed, we might not find you in the first place. If you’d like a quick 15-minute video call for personalized resume feedback, drop a comment below, I’d be happy to help!

It’s almost been a decade now for my experience in the corporate world. Over the years I had the privilege to interact with a lot of exceptional professionals and talented recruiters.🙂 Whenever I ask them on what basis they judge who will be the optimal fit for their company.🤔🤔 The one thing they told me was the resume, which is the first thing a recruiter or hiring manager goes through.🧑💻 Sharing some of the amazing resume techniques which I follow and advise my students as well to follow which has helped them get their dream job. 🙋♀️ 1) Focus on the first five seconds: Structure your resume in a way that it'll immediately highlight your achievements and results in the first few seconds a hiring manager or recruiter looks at it. 2) Highlight your achievements: Focus on the results you have achieved because that is helpful for hiring managers to understand the impact and results you have accomplished. 3) Be cautious when mentioning skills and tools: Don't just put in the skills and tools listed in the job description. Be prepared to talk about them and relate them to your experiences 4) Divide skills and tools into areas: Categorize your skills and tools based on their relevance to your role, such as analytical tools for analysis, design and collaboration tools for user experience, and project management tools for product stories. 5) Start with experience: If you have relevant experience, highlight it first and then list your education. If you're a new graduate, highlight your education first. 6) Use active language: Start each sentence with an action or result, followed by how you achieved it and what kind of project you worked on. Overall, your resume should have a clear structure that emphasizes your achievements, relevant skills, and experiences, while using active language to highlight your results and actions.😇 Share some of the resume tips in the comment section that have helped you crack the interview process.👇👇