The Perfect Resume: Sell, Don't Tell

In my conversations with professional recruiters, school district administrators, and college career counselors throughout the country, one critical piece of advice kept coming up again and again.  Here it is:

A job search is all about marketing.

The bottom line in any job search is that you are trying to sell yourself - more specifically, you are trying to sell someone on the benefits of you and the benefits you will bring to a school or school district.  In short, you are the product.  Just like a flashy new car, the latest and greatest technological innovation, or a newly released drug designed to eradicate specific pain and suffering, you are a product.  Someone could tell me about all the features on that new car, but that wouldn’t inspire me to want to purchase the car.  What they need to do is sell me on all those new features…why do I need those specific features on that specific car?  When they do that they’re trying to sell me the car.

 Professional resume writers will tell you that the single-most important feature they include in every single resume they write is the “Sell, Don’t Tell” strategy.  When you “tell it” you are simply stating basic facts (“I taught fourth grade science.”).  On the other hand, when you “sell it” you are drawing attention to it, you are advertising it, you are promoting it, and you are underlining its importance to the consumer (“Initiated and developed an inquiry-based life science curriculum for fourth grade students - one that resulted in an 11% gain in standardized test scores.”).

Master resume writers will tell you that the “Sell, don’t tell” strategy should be woven into every single item included on a well-written resume.  Ignore it and your resume will sound like every other resume.

Let’s look at the difference:

Tell it	Sell it
“Taught four sections of chemistry during student teaching.”	“Designed and produced a revision to the 10th grade chemistry curriculum that resulted in heighted awareness of chemistry in everyday activities along with a 17% improvement in overall attitudes towards chemistry.”
“Tutored a child.”	“Tutored special needs child in reading and writing resulting in an increased reading level of two grades.”
“Read stories to children at the public library.”	“Set up and ran a Saturday morning read-aloud club at the local library which resulted in a 19% increase in attendance of patrons over the length of the project.”
“Was a volunteer coach for the junior varsity soccer team.”	“Established a physical fitness program for junior varsity soccer players that resulted in a significant decrease in athletic injuries and a heighted awareness of sustained conditioning exercises.”
“Taught high school math.”	“Instructed algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus students in grades 9-11.  Developed and implemented appropriate lesson plans and assessments to meet state standards, resulting in a 93% advanced or proficient rating in 11th grade PSSA.”
“Wrote a new social studies unit.”	“Researched and designed an interactive unit on the Underground Railroad that resulted in improved attitudes about the role of African-Americans in U.S. history along with a statistically significant improvement in student mid-term grades.”

 
As you review the chart above, you can see that “selling” yourself (as opposed to “telling” yourself) results in slightly longer statements.  Does that mean some more work for you?  You bet!  But, with the “Sell, don’t tell” philosophy you are putting your best features “front and center.”  Any reader will get a clearer picture of just who you are.

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