A Resume Redux
Korn Ferry CEO Gary Burnison highlights how the best of them will combine art, science, technology and storytelling.
Gary Burnison is CEO of Korn Ferry. For more career advice, read his latest book, I Need a Job!
I’ve received thousands of resumes throughout my career—and believe me, I’ve seen it all: Too long, too short, too hard to read. Clichés, jargon and acronyms. The braggadocios, the adjectives and the superlatives. And also, along the way, many of them left a lasting impression.
Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fan of resumes—I even wrote a book called Lose the Resume, Land the Job about all the things that are more important than the resume. Nearly a decade later, it’s even more relevant.
Yes, you do need a resume. But despite all the importance people place on trying to become the Hemingway of CVs, the documents account for only about 10% of the hiring decision.
And now, with the advent of AI, a new phenomenon has emerged: the pleasantly perfect resume. We’re all seeing them.
It seems that every resume today is polished, grammatically flawless and exactly formatted—a sea of perfection.
Yet curiously absent are persona and heart.
The result is a modern-day quandary. Job candidates are trying to distinguish themselves, frustrated because of a lack of visibility. And companies are trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, navigating the wave of AI that makes everyone sound the same.
It’s time for a resume redux.
The truth is, whether it makes its way directly to a hiring manager or gets put through the test of ATS, your resume—and the next steps in your hiring process—will be decided in just a few seconds. So, you need to pop off the page.
There will be a time and a place to decide what opportunity ultimately is going to be a fit for you and what will make you the most happy. What I tell people all the time is that this stage in the process is all about optionality. You want to open doors No. 1… No. 2… No. 3 ….
Where do we start? It begins with understanding that a resume is where art, science and technology meet storytelling.
Ascending from the aggregate.
Not all job titles are created equal. Two people can have the exact same position on paper, but vastly different levels of scope, scale and responsibility. Unless you bring that out in bright lights, the natural inclination for an employer reviewing thousands of resumes is to assume the aggregate. Prove otherwise—by standing out and distinguishing yourself based on what you actually do and the impact you make. It’s all about accomplishment, not just activity. So, break the pattern. Be agile to the archetype. Don’t take for granted that they will recognize your greatness. And most importantly, elevate beyond the title.
For the first-time job seeker… were you an intern in the legal department—or an intern who reported to the general counsel? For the mid-career professional… did you implement the innovation—or create it? For the senior-level executive… are you responsible for margins and profits—or are you truly a leader of people? Details matter. Don’t assume. Tell.
To bot or not to bot.
That is indeed the question. AI is a tool for critiquing and tailoring your resume. So absolutely, use all the prompts, queries and feedback to help amplify your expertise and showcase your accomplishments. Start big, go granular, tailor in between. But beware the danger of all bot and no back story. AI cannot replace your authentic self. Your personality. Your voice. Anything that is unique to you and your experience. Because beyond the font and what to bullet or bold is something far more important: the story only you can tell. In other words: You.
Elevating in ATS, avoiding the abyss.
Your resume has one job: to get you through the screening and on to the interview. So, whether you are uploading your resume, updating your LinkedIn profile or splicing parts of both into a company’s ATS, there are the basics: Summarize experience, describe the results, and show how you match the qualifications—and, yes, use the keywords from the job description. And whatever you do, don’t blast your resume to every position a company posts. It could get you flagged and not in a good way.
Scaling the staircase.
A resume tells the story of a career journey. Whenever I am reviewing resumes, one of the top things I’m looking for is clear progression—increasingly larger roles, broader responsibilities and greater impact. With just a glance, I want to see a staircase pattern of growth that jumps off the screen. It goes beyond qualifications and a career lattice. It speaks to the specific qualities I’m looking for: hunger, hustle and heart.
Be careful what you brag about.
It goes without saying, everything on a resume should be truthful, and the numbers shouldn't be exaggerated. If every traffic signal has three green lights—and your resume is all arrows pointing out, up and to the right, and every increase is X to the X-power percentage growth…. That’s simply not realistic and will diminish the accolades you actually have achieved. So, be mindful of when hyperbole doesn’t match believability.
Vouch, verify and validate.
I know… but I just have to say it again. This is a huge deal. The real differentiation is a resume that comes through a recommendation. The six degrees of separation really do work. It’s all about having someone refer you to a position and vouch for your experience, accomplishments and character. This is the one-two punch that gets you noticed and your resume read. And for every hour spent on a resume, multiply it by ten for networking.
Despite all of the technological innovations of yesterday, today and tomorrow, the reality is that the art of crafting a resume really hasn’t changed.
It’s still all about you—and the impact you have on others.
