Over the last month, I’ve reviewed and helped rework a lot of resumes. I mean A LOT.
Our graduating teachers at ECU are heading out into the world, and I’ve been working my butt off to help them show schools just how awesome they are.
Which brings back a memory of the longest resume I’ve ever seen — twenty-five pages.
It listed every school the person had ever attended — starting from kindergarten — and every teacher who’d ever taught them. By page five, I knew more about their education than my own son’s.
And here’s the thing: this person wasn’t unqualified. Far from it. They were capable and clever.
But their resume? It read like a security blanket made of bullet points.
Why We Over-Explain (Yet It Doesn’t Work)
That twenty-five-pager taught me something I see all the time.
We try to prove we’re good enough by listing everything.
- Every course.
- Every task.
- Every time we went “above and beyond.”
But all that extra detail doesn’t make you look more qualified — it just makes your story harder to see.
When employers look at your resume, they’re not tallying up experience points like it’s a video game. They’re asking one simple question:
Can this person help me solve my problem?
If the answer isn’t obvious in the first thirty seconds, they move on.
The Hidden Cost of Playing It Safe
Here’s the kicker — the people who over-explain on their resume are usually the ones who underestimate their value.
They play it safe.
They hide behind responsibility statements instead of showing results.
They use polite, beige language (“responsible for managing communications”) instead of something with heartbeat (“built a school community people actually wanted to be part of”).
It’s not that they can’t sell themselves.
It’s that they’ve been taught not to.
But if you want to stand out — really stand out — you have to show what makes you different, not just what makes you qualified.
What a Great Resume Actually Does
A great resume doesn’t say “Here’s everything I’ve ever done.”
It says “Here’s what I can do next — and why you should care.”
It’s clear, confident, and forward-looking.
It also doesn’t list your kindergarten teacher (sorry, Mrs Thompson).
When I’m working with clients, here’s what we aim for:
-
Measurable achievements relevant to their target role.
-
A clear target role (not “open to anything”).
-
A value proposition — what they stand for professionally.
-
Positioning as a leader or expert in their field.
-
Examples of impact (numbers, outcomes, results).
-
A professional layout in MS Word — clean, not cluttered.
-
Skills that match their ideal role strategically.
-
Content that communicates with clarity and confidence.
Your Challenge
If you’re thinking “yep, I might be guilty of avoiding a few of those,” you’re not alone.
Almost every resume I review has “safety paragraphs and bullets” — the bits people write to sound professional, but that secretly say “please just like me.”
So your challenge this week: open your resume and ask one question —
“What story is this telling about me?”
If it’s the story of someone who’s done a lot — cut it back. If it’s the story of someone who knows exactly what they bring to the table — keep going.
And if you recognise that you need an overhaul…
Well, you know where I am. 😉
~Lisa