Award-Winning Resume Writing Strategy w/Safani, Iyer & Markus

Award-Winning Resume Writing Strategy & TORI ROI from Winners Award-Winning Resume Writing Strategy & TORI ROI from Winners Tiffany Hardy, Amy Britta Watt and Renzo Luis Maúrtua Neumann

Resume Writers: It’s week three of interviews with TORI award-winning professional resume writers who have shared their resume writing tips, TORI strategies, and the ROI gained from entering.

This week I’m joined live by:

Barbara Safani, CMRW, CERM, CGRA, CRS+FS, CRS+HM, CRS+IT, CRS+PR, CRS+BD, CRS+HR of Career Solvers
Yuvika Iyer, CERM, CARW, CRA, MBA of Careerlinko
Arno Markus BA, MSc., CPRW of iCareerSolutions.

During the interview they have answered:

How many years have you been entering and how many/what categories have you won? (Ex., Classic Executive, High Design Sales). Not looking for whether it was 1st place or 3rd.
Did you enter any years before you started getting nominated/winning? Any lesson there as to why you kept entering and what you did differently?
What software do you use to prepare your resumes?
What’s the least/most categories you have entered each year?
Why have the TORIs been important to you and what have they helped you to accomplish?
What’s one strategy would you recommend to a writer who wanted to improve their writing or design?
What’s one other tip would you give to a resume writer around entering or winning/getting nominated?
Any other resume writing advice?

Please note that Arno Markus did not join us live. We have still included his written tips, which were received in advance.

Guest Introductions

Barbara Safani:

Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, specializes in resume writing and job search coaching services for six- and seven-figure executives who know where they want to take their career, but need help uncovering the most efficient path.

I’m going to add in there that she has earned 9 yes 9 CDI resume writing certifications!

Yuvika Iyer:

Yuvika Iyer is the Chief Resume Expert and co-founder at Careerlinko, where she works with senior executives to create branded career documents that help them secure their next executive or board role. She is a 3X Certified Executive Resume Master, Advanced Resume Writer, and Resume Analyst. She’s also a 5X TORI award winner and has been nominated five times. Earlier, she was an HR consultant for top-tier companies such as Indeed, Track Star Hire, and Wrike and a global ex-recruiter across the U.S., Canada & India.

Arno Markus:

Arno Markus BA, MSc., CPRW, is a highly accomplished Certified Professional Resume Writer, LinkedIn Profile Writer, and Personal Brand & Job Search Strategist. As the CEO and Founder of iCareerSolutions, he utilizes his expertise to help clients achieve their career goals. With a background in Global Recruitment Consulting and Federal Government work, Arno has consistently ranked among the top writers North America since 2017. He has received 27 prestigious industry awards and recognitions, solidifying his position as a leading expert in his field.

Guest Resume Writing & TORI Tips

There is so much great advice provided by my guests in the show today. Here are short highlights of some of their advice:

Arno Markus:

Potentially Boost Visibility & Credibility.

“Participating in resume writing competitions can lead to increased visibility and credibility within the industry.

Winning or placing in these competitions acts as a powerful marketing tool, demonstrating your expertise to potential clients and colleagues alike.

This recognition can help you attract higher-quality clients, command higher rates for your services, and establish yourself as a thought leader in the resume writing community.”

Increase Motivation to Think Outside the Box with Design.

“Resume writing competitions encourage you to push the envelope on design trends and think outside the box.

By exploring innovative layouts, visual elements, and storytelling techniques, you can create resumes that not only stand out to competition judges but also catch the attention of hiring managers in the job market.

Embracing cutting-edge design trends through these competitions keeps you at the forefront of the industry and helps you develop a signature style that sets you apart from competitors.”

Yuvika Iyer:

Gain Inspiration, Then Be Unique.

“If you do review past winners, try not to copy their style. While taking inspiration from a past winner is fine, create your own unique style.

TORI judges are actually looking for powerful and beautiful resumes, so try to create your own design framework, color combinations, and overall template or layout.

Many of my designs that were nominated or won were pretty different from the majority of the resumes that won earlier.”

Get Out of Your Own Head.

“Another tip that helped me immensely was getting out of my own head.

You know, I used to feel that mostly the same people win every year, and they have amazing designs, so why should I even enter? ou never know until you try. Forget competing with others. Just be creative and see what happens if you try.”

Review Prior Winning Resumes.

“When I wanted to enter the TORIs for the first time in 2021, I intently reviewed the past winners. TORI-winning resumes are powerfully written and have a visually appealing design.

Boring and generic resumes will not cut it.

This was a super helpful step that taught me how to write at the TORI level.

I also ended up making a one-page checklist of the TORI-level writing tips that I learnt after reviewing the winners. And then, every resume I wrote after that (not for TORIs), I started incorporating these insights into my writing gradually.

When I created my TORI submissions, I scanned each entry with the checklist and then spent around 2-3 days bringing it up to the TORI level if it wasn’t already.

For example, a few things on this list were:

Using white space liberally
Maintaining consistent font and formatting usage
Including powerful action verbs that sell, not just tell
Leading bullets with achievements, not duties

It was also important to pick a client with impactful metrics or fictionalize a resume to ensure that the numbers were there.”

Barbara Safani:

“Take Risks.

Incorporate a design element, image, or visual representation of data that is unique to your client but relevant to their target audience.

Doing so contributes to your professional development and can position you as an industry innovator.”

“Give Yourself a Long Runway for Proofreading.

It’s easy for errors to occur in documents you have edited for the contest.

Don’t rush and proofread multiple times.

Leverage AI tools such as Grammarly to ensure accuracy.”

Replay & Next Livestream

Coming next week:

We’re going to be continuing this series throughout June, so plan to join us for more of 4-week series: Award-Winning Resume Writing Strategy & Competition ROI from TORI Winners next Wednesday at 3:45 PM Eastern.

My TORI-winning guests for that show on 6/26/2024 will be:

Bridget Batson, CERM, CMRW, CGRA, CPRW, CEIP, NCOPE of Houston Outplacement Resume Writing and Career Counseling
Catharine Craig, M.Ed., ACRW, CCMC, CPRW, CCST of Great Big World Writing
Paula Christensen, CGRA, CEIC of Strategic Career Coaches

Again, we’ve streaming on CDI’s LinkedIn page, YouTube channel, and in our Facebook page every Wednesday at 3:45 PM Eastern. And, don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe so you stay in the know!