Building A Resume That Showcases Your Marketable Ministry Skills

♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT:  Design the resume to show ministry marketable skills

How do you do this?

Your resume needs to be designed for the brain to not have to work too hard.

Here’s why:

Think of a recent time when you have had to read a complicated document on a computer screen.

Maybe it was a contract of some sort, like a mortgage, lease, or insurance.
Probably over 30 pages.

Likely, you were looking for specific parts of the agreement. Probably the parts that you cared about the most:
What could get you into trouble, and what needed to be true for you to sign on the dotted line.

Lucky for you, the contract is broken down into specific sections to make it easy to find these things.

Your resume needs to be the same.

The #1 thing killing ministry resumes is…

The structure.

I’ve seen it all.

Both from my time hiring when I worked at a large church,
To my time in corporate HR in talent acquisition,
And now, as a career coach for the last 5 years.

Your resume needs to make sure two things are true.

1. It is ATS-friendly

2. It is reader-friendly 

In the Interview Accelerator, our clients use our custom tool AI tools – the Resume Bullet Builder and the Translator Coach – to ensure both are true for their resumes.

You need to put all of the right keywords on your resume, and you need to address the P.A.R.T.S. of the job description, which I wrote about here.

But even if you have those things, if the structure isn’t right, 

• The ATS won’t recognize your experience (auto-rejection)

• And the reader won’t see your experience (swipe left)

  
  

Your resume should be easy and intuitive for the brain to find the specific experience that matches the job.

The 6 Parts of a Standout Resume

Your resume should

• Have sections that mark the important things like your experience, your education, your skills, etc.

• Be in bullet point format and no long sentences or paragraphs.

• Use metrics to show impact and proof.

Here are the 6 parts, in order from top of the page to bottom of the page:

1. Contact Information: Keep it minimal and obvious. Avoid using a picture. Use the nearest major city instead of a suburb to make your location recognizable.

2. Professional Summary: Instead of generic statements, include the most impressive bullet points relevant to the job you're applying for. Limit this to three bullet points and tailor them to each job description.

3. Relevant Work Experience: Include 3 to 5 jobs, focusing on those most relevant to the position. Adjust job titles to reflect your responsibilities accurately, and include a summary of the scope of work, such as the number of people served, annual revenue, and team size.

4. Education: List your most relevant education first, followed by certifications in order of relevance.

5. Skills: Highlight technical skills relevant to the job. Integrate these into your impact bullets and list any remaining relevant skills separately. Limit soft skills to a maximum of five, ensuring they are highly relevant to the job.

6. Interests: Include 3 to 4 specific non-work interests that can help you connect with others. Be specific to make them relatable.

When your resume is designed like this, you’re more likely to have the right person see the right things that move you through the process.