How to revamp your CV the *right* way

I hate editing my resume. Keep reading if you do too.

Photo: My husband and I

I firmly believe there is a special circle of hell where all you do 24/7 is edit your CV. Probably in the Europass form (if you know, you know).

In other words: I really don’t like updating my resume. I find it difficult to strike that balance between “Is this document overcrowded?” and “Wait, I’m surely forgetting at least one work experience! What was it?”. In the end, I always end up with a made-in-Canva PDF file that looks kinda cute and shows that I have worked on some cool things, but overall seems… like it doesn’t actually tell the reader anything specific.

All that changed this fall.

The CV of an Entrepreneur VS. The CV of a (Future) Employee

During the three years I spent as a first-time entrepreneur, the cute-but-not-much-else resume I created sometime in early 2020 received minimum edits. It was a two-pager in the shades of light and dark green (the brand colors of my late environmental communication consultancy) that - to be completely honest - relied heavily on name-dropping. Instead of explaining in more detail what it was that I did, I would list the biggest clients I’d worked with and hope that it would work.

And in the cases where submitting a copy of my CV was necessary, this usually did work.

But I’m not an entrepreneur anymore and my resume needed to paint a better picture of what it is that I can actually do for my future employer.

So it was time to bring in the expert: my husband.

The Sun of my days, AKA the husband, AKA Luka Bošković, has been working in HR for ~8 years. He offered to revamp my CV for me but I asked him to do something else instead: sit down next to me, pinpoint all the things that could be better, and teach me what to write instead - and why. I also asked if I could share his tips in my future newsletter so here we are. :)

Mistake #1: Not keeping it aesthetically simple

Let’s start with the easiest thing to change: the aesthetics of your resume. I used to do my CV in Canva (I love Canva!) but Luka advised me to keep it super simple and edit it instead in a Google Doc file. We removed all the colors and went with the classic paper-white background with black letters on it, similar to this text. The only exception was my name in the heading of the page, which is purple (my hair is currently purple and I decided to stick with the theme). The font we went with was Arial.

Why keep it simple? There are a few reasons, the first and the most unfortunate being that most recruiters will still print out the CVs of all the candidates (oh, the waste of resources! #theenvironmentalistinmeiscrying) and usually do so on the black & white printer. Therefore, you want the contrast on your document to be crisp.

You also want the format of the document to be easily scannable in the case that the recruiter is just glancing at it while you’re in front of them, or even if they’re using pre-selection software that pinpoints desirable certain keywords in your CV (e.g. whether you mention “Project management” anywhere).

Mistake #2: Not focusing on the skills

Remember my name-dropping-instead-of-skill-describing issue? Don’t repeat it.

And as I learn best when I see an example, here’s what we’re going to do: you’ll read a snippet of my before & after below.

First, the before. This is how I described what I used to do as an entrepreneur behind Eko Korijen LLC:

“September 2020 - November 2023: Founder and CEO of Eko Korijen llc. enviromental publishing & consulting
Activities: coaching SMEs, NGOs, and freelance marketing professionals on how to improve their green communication skills; consulting for NGOs on crafting sustainable communication strategies; public speaking and workshop moderating, mentoring on hackathons.

List of clients and attendants of my workshops includes: EIT Climate KIC, GIZ, the EU delegation in Montenegro and the EU info center, NGO CZIP; NGO Eco team; NGO Crnogorsko društvo ekologa; as well as representatives of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism of Montenegro, PE National Parks of Montenegro, EPA Montenegro, etc.”

Not bad, but also not saying much.

Now take a look at the snippet (I won’t paste the whole thing) of how I describe the experience in my new resume:

“September 2020 - November 2023: Founder and CEO of Eko Korijen llc. enviromental publishing & consulting

Eko Korijen d.o.o. was a company that provided consulting and publishing services in the field of environmental communication to environmental non-governmental organizations and socially responsible businesses. The range of services offered to clients included creating communication strategies, developing posting plans for social media, training client team members responsible for communication, collaborating one-on-one with independent experts and small businesses on designing their communication strategies and plans, writing brochures on environmental protection, conducting educational workshops and training sessions. The client list included organizations such as EIT Climate KIC, the EU Delegation in Montenegro, the EU Info Center (now the European House), the German Development Agency (GIZ), NGO CZIP, NGO Eko tim, NGO Montenegrin Society of Ecologists, and many others. The company closed in November 2023.

Key duties and responsibilities: Leading and developing the company; Designing and developing offerings related to environmental communication; Creating sales content (social media posts, announcements, etc.) related to the current offerings; Creating paid advertising campaigns on social media (Instagram, LinkedIn) for promoting current offerings; Creating communication strategies for clients; Creating posting plans for social media for clients (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn); Writing brochures and manuals on environmental protection; Designing and conducting workshops (online and in-person) on environmental communication in Montenegrin and English; Training individuals involved in communication within client teams (…)…”

Much different, right?

That “Key duties and responsibilities” part is actually longer than quoted here, which brings me to my husband’s final point before we move on: don’t be afraid to take up some more space on the page if that space can be used to show that you can do the job.

Mistake #3: Not focusing on the transferable skills when you’re switching career paths

If you’re in a life phase similar to mine, you might be embarking on an adventure in a completely new industry. The fact that you don’t have any experience working in that industry does not mean that you don’t have useful skills and experience.

That brings us to transferable or transversal skills. They are the skills and abilities that can be applied and are valuable across various different roles and industries. These skills are not specific to a particular job or task but can be transferred and adapted to different contexts. (Think: if you were a project manager in a sustainability non-profit you have the bones needed to be a project manager in an IT company.)

You want to highlight those skills in your resume! Write down what skills your previous/current job and your future-leap-into-the-unknown job have in common. Take a look at things that have to do with effective internal and external communication, public speaking, problem-solving, and good time management, as well as the specific skills that could be useful to you in your next career endeavor, such as grant writing, event organizing, etc.

If you can’t remember anything, try brainstorming together with the people who know your work, or even ChatGPT!

Since I’m switching from sustainability communications to QA testing, here’s what I asked ChatGPT for the purpose of this newsletter:

The Question: What are some common skills that might be useful both to a communication specialist and a QA tester?

The Response (a snippet): Both roles require effective communication. Communication specialists need strong written and verbal communication skills to convey messages clearly, while QA testers need to communicate issues, test results, and potential improvements to the development team. (…) Understanding the end-user perspective is important for both roles. QA testers aim to ensure a positive user experience by identifying and addressing issues, while communication specialists tailor messages to meet the needs and expectations of their audience. (…) QA testers and communication specialists both benefit from a keen attention to detail. In QA testing, meticulous attention is necessary to identify and document bugs, while communication specialists need to ensure accuracy in their messaging, whether in writing or speaking.

You see? Super useful for getting ideas on what to highlight as you transition to a new role.

And a bonus for the future…

Now, I couldn’t squeeze in all the tips for updating your resume in one email, so Luka and I have a plan: in a future Substack article, he’ll come as a guest writer in a “Your Qs, an HR Specialist’s As - Resume edition” type of article.

So click “Reply” to this email and ask away, or write your CV-related questions in the comments below!

I hope you found today’s selection of tips useful. Oh, and if you get to editing your resume these days, do let me know how it goes - whether here or on LinkedIn.

Until next week, stay curious!

With all my support for your ebbs and flows,

Andjela

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Welcome to the Career Pivot Diaries where I chronicle my journey from sustainability communications to QA testing! This is where we’ll cover all things career change, such as going from entrepreneurship to 9-to-5, exploring new professional identities, and *finally* updating that dusty CV. Most importantly, we’ll explore how to see ourselves as more than our work and find a sense of safety in choosing a new path while allowing room for creative play.

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