Do you know what your resume really says about you?

In many cases, the first time someone takes a look at it, they’ll be skimming through rather than pouring over all the specifics. It’s important to be consistent and deliberate when you decide what to include in (and leave out of) your resume, and pay special attention to your word choice. While it may be tempting to get bogged down with all the minute details, don’t neglect the overall message that your resume is sending to to the people who read it.

For example, if your personal brand is all about leadership experience with a focus on economic development, a quick once-over of your resume should create that impression without having to read it word-for-word. A couple of my colleagues have gotten me addicted to Wordle, a really cool tool (unfortunate rhyme!) for generating word clouds out of a chunk of text.

Try running your resume, LinkedIn profile, or blog URL through it to get a nice visual representation of how you are representing yourself to a potential employer. If the important buzzwords for your industry aren’t showing up HUGE, you might need to reconsider the way you’re presenting your message. I’m pretty happy with the way mine turned out, although I was a bit surprised at how many of the words relate to my old sports marketing experience. What does the Wordle version of your resume say?