In this week’s episode, Doug Levin joins Maria and Michelle on the RelTalk series. Doug is the Owner of JobStars, a platform dedicated to delivering top-notch career services for professionals of all industries and experience levels. He's also a certified professional resume writer and a career coach. Doug knows the ins and outs of resume writing, and he’s happy to share his wisdom with the world. First, Doug talks about the most common mistake that people make when writing their resumes. They overstuff it with graphics and unnecessary content. This can cause issues with applicant tracking systems that companies use to manage the flow of applications - so, make your resume ATS-friendly. Then, Doug continues to unpack some of the key tips for making your resume stand out. As he points out, you shouldn’t neglect the importance of structure and formatting when creating your curriculum. Finally, Doug explains why you need to first reflect on who you are as a professional before finding suitable jobs to apply for. Once you know what you bring to the table, it’ll be much easier to find your ideal position.The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Doug’s introduction
• Making your resume ATS-friendly
• The importance of resume structure and formatting
• Knowing your values
• How to convey your values
• Getting your resume together

Quotes:“The important thing to think about as a job seeker to remember is that these systems automate the process oftentimes of evaluating your resume. So before your resume ever gets to the eyeballs of a human being, it’s going through this applicant tracking system.”“When you kind of try to pretty up the resume, it might look good to the human or viewer, but at the same time, it can cause issues with the applicant tracking system.”“You want to paint the picture for the reader of what was this person's scope of responsibility.”“Once you know those things, you know your seniority level, you know your functional role and you know the industry specialization. At that point, it's selecting the right keywords, the right core competencies, and the right kind of language to just align with those types of roles.”“Definitely, it takes some work to have a conversation, explore things, ask difficult challenging questions, and then once you do that, oftentimes the client provides all this really valuable information, and we can formulate it into a powerful message. ”Show Links:REL Talent: HR ConsultingEmail REL TalentREL Talent on LinkedInJobStars WebsiteDoug Levin on LinkedIn