Ever seen the meme "They had us in the first half, not gonna lie".  They will have you in the first half, but we won't lie!

The first half is page one of a two-page resumé.  And on page one, particularly everything before the employment section is critical.  It is critical because this is where the employer's eyes will land, and this is what spurs them to continue skimming the rest of your application to determine if they should call you for an interview. 

This article outlines how to capitalize on this critical area of the resumé so you can stand out to the employer.  This advice is best suited for when you're writing a resumé to target a specific job, and it can also be used when you're creating a networking resumé as well. 

But before we move forward, it would be good to note that "half" is simply an average measure.  So before you start bustin' out your slide rule, note that half can go over the exact half, or be under it.  What's more important is the content and its relevance to the job posting. 

Sections in the first half

So what are these sections in the first half of your resumé?  After the contact information that starts the page, one or two sections follow, and they outline your fit for the job before you even get to experience and education. 

You might have thought of an objective statement.  Close but not quite!  Objective statements on resumé are quickly becoming obsolete in North America because they ended up becoming a paragraph with bloated buzzwords or generic verbiage that said nothing about you.  That doesn't set your resumé off to a great start at all. 

Statements that make sense logically are now seen as cringeworthy, such as "seeking a job for mutual benefit to me and the employer" and they're being thrown out the window.  But why is this statement cringe though?

...They know you are seeking a job.  That's why you're there.  If you weren't seeking a job or seeing what it was like to work there, your intentions would be suspicious.  And, of course, you want mutual benefit.  Employers compensate you for your work, even unpaid internships, in experience and credibility. 

Since your objective is to get the job, why not make the job your objective?  What now?  Let me explain... 

Rather than writing a bloated objective statement, a better use of your real estate on the page is simply to replace it with the job title and organization of the job you're applying for.  

And if you're writing a networking resumé, that statement would be your career title.  Experts advise job seekers to drop the word "objective" as well and simply use the job title and organization.  This statement matches the subject line on your cover letter. 

Wonderful!  Now nobody can miss why you're here with a statement that is the job title and organization of the job you're applying for.  This also helps when you're applying to multiple jobs at the same employer, or similar jobs at different employers.  It can save you embarrassing errors of mixing them up, or the hiring staff from mixing them up too. 

Moving down the first page of the resumé, let's take a look at the other sections.  This is where things vary. 

While many U.S. employers expect to see a profile and skills section, many Canadian employers expect to see a highlights of qualifications section.

The profile and skills are interchangeable with the highlights of qualifications section (which also contains skills), but they're not necessarily cut from the same cloth.

A profile is more about you, and the highlights of qualifications is more about the job.  The profile can also speak to the organization, whereas the highlights of qualifications often speaks to the job. 

Therefore some people use both sections, or they merge them by having the profile be the first line of their highlights of qualifications (for Canadian resumés) or by expanding on their skills under profile and skills (for U.S. resumés). 

Be careful with writing a profile so that you don't end up with the same verbiage problem as the obsolete objective statement.  

The profile should connect you to the organization, instead of reading like a bio you wrote for all and sundry. 

Describe your skills well

The skills section of a U.S. resumé is much like a bulleted list of named skills in words and short phrases.  And while anyone can slap some skills on a resumé and try to call it solid, briefly expanding on your skills will carry more weight.  You can also do this under highlights of qualifications on a Canadian resumé. 

When it comes to expanding on skills, many North American job seekers do this by explaining their competency levels with these skills, by using either words or graphics.  The thing about graphics though is that the ATS software that screens applications for employers has trouble interpreting them, or might skip them altogether.  And you wouldn't want your skills skipped altogether!  Avoid graphics when doing job applications online so that you won't be screened out before your resumé falls into human hands.  You can always bring a fancy resumé to hand out at the interview level. 

Describing your competency level with the skills the job is asking for is still a fantastic idea.  The language that you can use here is hinted at in the job postings' requirements about those skills, such as "ability to", "demonstrated ability to", "familiar with", "proficient in", "strong proficiency in", "excellent at", etc. 

This is a little better but can still fall into the category of slapping skills on a resumé and quoting the posting verbatim, which can get you past the bouncer (the ATS), but might lack lustre to the human behind the bouncer, the hiring manager.

What will make you stand out from the pack is describing your competency with the required skills by mentioning your scale or depth with them, or by using an example of where you have applied these skills.

But what if the posting has twenty skills under the requirements?  Describing them all would have you end up writing a book!  Well, you don't have to describe all the skills.  But you can definitely describe the ones that seem the most important.  Describe at least one hard skill and at least one soft skill and you should be in far better shape.  Or your can group the skills and then describe that group. 

Group?  What group?  You've got to group stuff now?  Okay, here's some insight. 

Skills generally fall under the categories of hard skills (technical skills, skills that pertain to the job title), and soft skills (aka transferable skills).  Soft skills are further divided into self-management skills and interpersonal skills.  Here are some examples:

1. Self-management skills: drive, dedication, self-motivation, prioritization, time management, punctuality, diligence, strong work ethic, analytical, detail-oriented, problem-solving, organizational skills, ability to work individually as well as in teams. 
2. Interpersonal skills: communication skills (oral and written), compassion/empathy, leadership skills, teamwork, collaboration, working cooperatively, and relationship-building skills. 

These skills can be grouped together where relevant and described as a group.

This can be done under the skills section of a U.S. resumé, or under the highlights of qualifications in a Canadian resumé. 

When describing your skills in scope or depth, or using examples where you have applied them, being concise is best.  

Describe your skills with short phrases that incite curiosity the employer, prompting them to explore your resumé more. 

I won't leave you without examples to chew on.  Worry not! 

Examples

Here are examples pulled from Resumé Writing: Language of the Resumé, Part 4, Hard Skills and Soft Skills. The underlined text is the skill described. We start with the Canadian version.

 

Example one: Describing skills on a resumé.

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Posting: Attendant with Subway Sandwiches (Toronto ON)

Requirements:

Candidate: Marble Kenneth

Highlights of Qualifications

 - Food service attendant with six months of experience in the food service industry.

- High School Diploma.

- Demonstrated skills in preparing food orders from various menus.

- Proficient at taking orders and cashing out customers using the POS.

- Strong prioritization and time-management skills; operated a franchise during peak hours. 

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And here is the U.S. version. 

Example two: Describing skills on a resumé.

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Candidate: Marble Kenneth

Profile

Food service attendant with six months of experience in the food service industry, with a High School Diploma.

Skills

Preparing food orders, taking orders, cashing out customers, prioritization skills, and time-management skills; operated a franchise during peak hours.

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Here are some more examples of two separate candidates pursing two separate jobs.  This time, the examples are pulled from Resumé Writing: Language of the Resumé, Part 2, Verbs and Adjectives.  Again, the underlined text is the skill described.  We start with the Canadian version. 

Example three: Describing skills on a resumé.

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Candidate: Dennis Pinault

Highlights of Qualifications

  - Two years of experience as a researcher in business management for corporate and not-for-product organizations; created strategic business plans that helps clients achieve their goals.

 - Demonstrated R&D skills, detail-oriented; designed and launched surveys as part of creating complete business plans for clients.

 - Strong customer relations; keen listener to understand where the customer is coming from. 

Candidate: Jenny Landry

Highlights of Qualifications

 - Three plus years in management roles in multiple industries (one plus years supervising in restaurants).

 - Strong proficiency in adapting to learning the organization's database interfaces and POS.

 - Innovative problem-solver; devised strategies that kept a franchise in business during the pandemic while operating understaffed.

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And here is the U.S. version. 

Example four: Describing skills on a resumé.

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Candidate: Dennis Pinault

Profile

 Researcher in business management with two years of experience with a corporate and not-for-profit organizations; created strategic business plans that helped clients achieve their goals.

Skills

R&D skills, detail-oriented; designed and launched surveys as part of creating complete business plans for clients.

Strong customer relations; keen listener to understand where the customer is coming from.

Candidate: Jenny Landry

Profile

Management professional with three plus years in multiple industries, with one plus years supervising in restaurants. 

Skills

Supervisory skills, quick learner of databases and POS.

Innovative problem-solver; devised strategies that kept a franchise in business during the pandemic while operating understaffed

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Notice that regardless of the if you're writing a Canadian resumé or a U.S. resumé, you can also describe your skills by expanding on the scope or depth of it or by giving a demonstrated example. 

Summary

I've got you for a summary.  Here is a recap on how to write the first page of your resumé.

1. The first page of the resume, especially the first half, which is everything before the employment section, is critical, because this is where the employer's eyes will land first.  Sections are crucial here, especially when you're writing a resumé to target a specific job, and even when you're writing a networking resumé.
2. In Canada resumés, the first section under contact information is your highlights of qualifications, whereas in U.S. resumés, this is your profile and skills section. 
3. Regardless of if you're writing a Canadian resumé or a U.S. resumé, describe your skills well.  
4. Skills can fall under the category of hard skills (skills that refer to the job title) and soft skills (aka transferable skills), and you can group them and describe them. 
5. You can describe your skills well by expanding on the scope or depth of the skill, or giving a demonstrated example.  
6. You can describe you skills under highlights of qualifications (for a Canadian resumé) or under the profile and skills section (for a U.S. resumé).
7. These brief descriptions incite curiosity in the employer, prompting them to explore your resumé more. 
   

Notes

This article contains no text pictures to ensure that every word can be read aloud by a text-to-speech application. And was tested using Google Chrome’s “Read Aloud” add-on.

Resources

Check out my other articles for help in building your targeted resumé. And if you're looking for a resumé guide to land that dream job, book me to help. Rates apply.

Bio

Tiffany Persaud is a freelance writer who has written for clients and organizations in Canada and the USA, on topics ranging from books, films and media, to health and employment skills. She has her website (https://tiffany-persaud.writing.io/) where she publishes many pieces just like these each week.

References

Colombia University of Career Education.: "Resumes with Impact: Creating Strong Bullet Points". Colombia University, U.S.A.

< https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/resumes-impact-creating-strong-bullet-points#:~:text=Be%20specific%20about%20what%20you,work%20and%20achievements%20where%20possible. > Accessed on February 23, 2023.