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Hien D. Nguyen
Hien D. Nguyen

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Resume Tips

You have the skills. You have the experience. Yet, you’re sending out dozens of applications and hearing nothing back. It’s a frustrating and all-too-common experience. The hard truth is that your resume is likely being ignored because it’s making one critical mistake: it reads like a list of responsibilities, not a highlight reel of your impact.

Recruiters don’t want to know what you were supposed to do; they want to know the value you actually delivered. A great resume is a marketing document, and right now, yours might be failing to sell your skills.

Here are three simple, actionable ways to fix it today.

1. Quantify Everything: You Can Numbers are the most powerful tool on your resume. They provide concrete, undeniable proof of your impact. Go through every bullet point and ask yourself: “How can I measure this?”

  • Before: “Responsible for regression testing.”
  • After: “Executed a regression suite of 500+ test cases, identifying 12 critical defects before they reached production.”

2. Lead with Strong Action Verbs: Remove passive, boring phrases like “responsible for” or “duties included.” Start every single bullet point with a strong, active verb that shows you are a doer.

  • Instead of: “Involved in the creation of automation scripts…”
  • Use: “Developed a Python-based automation script that…”
  • Other great verbs: Led, Implemented, Designed, Optimized, Automated, Collaborated, Analyzed.

3. Focus on Accomplishments, Not Duties: Combine the first two points. For every duty you had, describe it as a specific, quantifiable accomplishment.

  • Before (Duty): “Wrote test plans and test cases.”
  • After (Accomplishment): “Designed and implemented a comprehensive test plan for the new payment feature, increasing test coverage by 30%.”

By making these three changes, you will transform your resume from a passive historical document into a powerful marketing tool that clearly communicates your value to recruiters and hiring managers.

Want more tips like this? My Free 5-Day Email Course covers how to align your entire professional toolkit — from your resume to your LinkedIn — to land more interviews. Sign up for free at: https://www.thesdetplaybook.com

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