Episode Transcript

Chris Villanueva 0:04
Here are five ways to boost your resume in 2025 some of these may surprise you, but I know that if you take them seriously, you will start tosee more traction in your job search. My name is Chris Villanueva, andI’m the founder and CEO of Let’s Eat, Grandma resume service. We help mid to senior level professionals land their dream job and feel supported along the way, so their journey feels just a little bit less lonely.

Chris Villanueva 0:26
From this podcast, you’re going to hear resume tactics, career coaching and updates that are going to help you further your job search and increase the happiness and satisfaction in your career. If you are listening to this episode, I welcome you and thank you.

Chris Villanueva 0:44
How has your year kicked off? Well, oh my gosh, for me, it has already been so much. We are recording this episode here on January 9. I have already had a move underway. The very end of the year, we were focusing on selling a house, and my wife and I found out we are going to have a baby boy. So I am ecstatic. There is so much energy and youwent pushing in this direction. So I hope and I pray that although the stresses of the 2024 year and holidays and all that stuff may be heavy in your heart right now, I hope you have a sense of rejuvenation and excitement for what this year is to bring the recent jolts report last week was interesting.

Chris Villanueva 1:24
We saw that the number of job postings was little changed in November, this was 8.1 million. This was the last piece of data that we have, but this was down 833,000 over the course of the year. So it appears that quits are down. Layoffs are not as bad, but the push, the general push for hiring, is not what it was previously. This does not mean that you slow your momentum.

Chris Villanueva 1:51
This does give you a little bit of a reason, and it should give you, like a kind of a sense of relief, like, Ah, it’s not my fault, but I don’t want you to slow down your job search. I want you to keep pushing as hard as you possibly can. Of course, separate your own worth, your own value, from the extension of your job search. It may be going on a little bit longer, but that does not mean that you are less valuable as an employee. So I want you to really push through. I want you to focus on doing the things you can control, like your resume and how you send it out.

Chris Villanueva 2:25
According to the Wells Fargo, Senior Economist, there was a lengthening duration of unemployment, with the median number of weeks increasing to 10.5 weeks in November from 10 weeks in October. This performance, along with continued jobless claims, suggested that the workers have recently lost their jobs appear to face increasingly greater challenges in finding new employment. So if you are in that boat, know that you are not alone. Know that it is a little bit of a rougher market right now. But this does not mean that you lose hope. This means that you push harder and separate your own worth from how your job search is going. Thank you.

Chris Villanueva 3:05
By the way, you may be listening to this episode on our blog. We are posting this in conjunction with one of our blog articles. If you haven’t checked out our blog, you have to go on over to letseatgrandma.com and look at some of the amazing articles that we are publishing. This oftentimes gives a visual. You’ll see some examples of resumes hear from some of the voices of our own resume writing team. I hope you can check that out and shout out to Katie McElroy, our blog ManagingEditor.

Chris Villanueva 3:31
All right, so here are five ways to improve your resume in 2025 this may be different from the blog. You’ll see some similarities, but these are my own ones that I feel called to tell you on this podcast today, the first thing that job seekers should do to improve their resume, to get the results that they deserve are improve the structure of your resume. Don’t just take the first thing that chatgpt gives you when you say, write me an amazing resume that makes me look cool.

Chris Villanueva 3:57
This is not the approach you want to have, because oftentimes best and you can do some soul searching and figure out what are the main advantages of your career that will show you to be qualified for the job. So in creating a better structure, think summary professional experiences, skills, certifications, the sections of your resume. Think about what you want to focus on and put what matters first on the top of the resume diary managers have very short attention spans. They have very little time.

Chris Villanueva 4:31
So you want to make sure that the way that you structure the resume goes in order of the advantages that you bring to the table here, how is a human being going to read this resume? I know that looking a lot of at a lot of resumes that were submitted already in the new year, I’m still seeing resumes that seem to be out of order. They’ll lead in with a very weak summary section and then follow up with, say, for example, skills certifications, and all of the sudden, you have the.

Chris Villanueva 5:00
Really strong professional experience sections that are pushed to the second page of the resume. If the accomplishments you’ve been able to affect at say, Wells Fargo, because I brought it up earlier, say you were able to achieve gains in productivity or decreases in costs, or you were able to bring more customers to your business. These are the things that you want to make sure you bring to the very top of your resume. And you want to think strategically. So zoom out. Don’t even think about the bullet points, but think about the way you want to order the resume. It is different for every single person.

Chris Villanueva 5:35
So again, just to give chat GPT, or just to do whatever and everyone else is doing, and make that your resume. That is not a good idea. Think about what your advantages are. First, lead with those and follow with each subsequent section, in order of value, all right, the second way to improve your resume in 2025 to get the results that you’ve been dreaming of, to boost your confidence, reflect on what you have done in 2024 and update those metrics.

Chris Villanueva 6:07
Again, this is another one that I’m seeing lacking from a lot of recent resume submissions, is they’ll be pretty strong resume again on page two, but the first page and the most recent professional experience, again, let’s say that you’ve worked for a company, Acme from 2019 to 2024 and you only have like three or four bullet points, no numbers, or maybe you just have like, one number that you threw together at the last minute. This does not appear strong. Hiring managers look very closely at the most recent position.

Chris Villanueva 6:40
They will, say, put 80% of the time and effort on that most recent position, and the rest of it, they will put on your other work experience. So for the people that have done things in 2024 and that is you, if you’re listening to this episode, make sure that you put extra time in the most recent position and update metrics and achievements. What you have done to move the needle in 2024 put all the extra time. It doesn’t have to be pretty.

Chris Villanueva 7:10
I’m not saying that if you want to craft the resume right now and put in all this time on creating the best section possible, all the more power to you. But all I’m asking you at the end of this episode is to take inventory and take stock on those things that you have done this year, and put them in an iPhone note, or put them in I don’t even care where you put this, but put it somewhere so you can remember it for later.

Chris Villanueva 7:35
There are so many instances where you will be like, Oh my gosh, I don’t even remember what I even did yesterday. So as these things are popping in your head and as you are doing some deep reflection, think about the things that you are most proud of, that you have accomplished in your job in 2024 so this is what we have so far. Number one, you want better structure in your resume, ordering it with more intent. The second thing is to reflect on what you’ve done in 2024 2024 updating those metrics.

Chris Villanueva 8:04
The third thing to do to boost your resume in 2025 is clean out house. What do I mean by clean out house? Maybe spring cleaning would be a good analogy here, although it’s not really, it’s not spring, it’s it’s still winter. So just forget me. Forget this. Are there some professional experiences in your resume or LinkedIn profile that simply are not relevant anymore? You want to look over the professional experiences, and I’m not saying that you have to cut out every experience that was, say, 1015, years ago, but cut out those bullet points that simply do not serve you.

Chris Villanueva 8:42
If it’s every bullet point, then sure you might want to consider removing the entire position title, or maybe you can just leave the position title and the years you’ve worked in that, but you want to make sure to remove the things that are not relevant, because they’re going to water down the rest of your resume. So clean out the house here. This is another big one. I’m telling you that, like probably 80% of the mid to senior level, like the people who have the experience, all the experience, it’s impressive. 80% of them have things that I’m just like, that does not belong in the resume. That’s a little that is either redundant or excessive, clean out the house, all right.

Chris Villanueva 9:20
Number four, the fourth thing to do are update your skills. These aren’t just professional experiences. I’m not talking about those metrics and results that came from projects. I’m talking about just from a simple keywords perspective, the skills that are going to be relevant in 2025 these things are updating not every single skill is going to have the same amount of search appeal in 2025 as it did in 2021 there are certain things that people are going to be looking for and valuing more. What are those skills that for you that if you were applying to a position, I don’t know whether it’s like an I. AI related position, or something that may have evolved over the last few years, but these are the things that you’re going to want to include on your document here.

Chris Villanueva 10:09
Now, skills can be integrated in multiple different parts of your resume. There’s obviously the skills section, but don’t forget about your professional experiences and integrating those tactfully within the actual accomplishments. So let’s say, for example, you have been working with artificial intelligence, and you are going to be applying for AI trainer positions. Maybe you are including artificial intelligence within the resume in some sort of way, but maybe you’re missing certain keywords for jobs you’re applying for quantitative analysis, for example, or AI training if you were going to be applying for those positions.

Chris Villanueva 10:46
Again, look very closely at the job postings that you’re applying for and try as much as possible to integrate the exact keyword that you’re noticing in these job postings. That’s going to help you all right, skills are still important in 2025 this is, again, a push that LinkedIn has made over the last few years, is to put emphasis on skills. We saw this last year when they increased the amount of skills that you can include, and just by the sheer amount of buzz in articles that LinkedIn has put out about skills based hiring, all right.

Chris Villanueva 11:18
Number five, this is a fun one, because it doesn’t have to do with resume, really something that I just think people really need this. Okay, so time for a new picture. Does your picture look outdated? And there’s something about getting a fresh picture. It’s like when you get a haircut. And I haven’t had hair for a long time, but it’s when I remember getting a haircut, just that fresh feeling of confidence that you get.

Chris Villanueva 11:45
People can notice on you it’s either the haircut or the radiance that you are just illuminating from your face and your smile. But there’s something about a new picture that can give you some fresh air and confidence in your job search, especially if you have an old picture that you haven’t touched in the last like, say, five years, make sure you do a brand refresh and put up a new picture that looks like you. You want to come across as professional. You want to make sure that you have the sharpness, contrast and overall quality of the picture looking good. I’m not saying that you need to go out and hire a photographer tomorrow, but maybe get a friend to use portrait mode on their iPhone and shoot another picture of you with a blank background.

Chris Villanueva 12:29
That’s what I’m talking about. And these are the things that make a difference in your job search, because not only are you giving your brand a facelift, but you’re continuing to iterate new versions of yourself, and just to make sure that you have a good, strong brand, we just got a new picture done for the Career Warrior Podcast. You should see that soon, because I have vowed to do the same thing. It was an older picture of me felt like doesn’t really look like me very much anymore.

Chris Villanueva 12:55
So you’ll see a new picture and one that is on brand for not only me, but for the podcast. So these are the five things that will make a difference. I chose these carefully. I didn’t want to just say really simple things that are easy, things that sound good, but I chose the five things that I’m noticing the most that people really should be doing to improve the resumes here.

Chris Villanueva 13:18
So number one, improving the structure and anatomy of the resume thinking about the things that matter most. Number two, reflect on what you’ve done in 2024 and update those metrics with intent. Three, clean out house, remove the bullet points and experiences that don’t serve you anymore. Four, update those skills so they match the job postings as best as possible. And number five, get a haircut. Okay, I’m just, I’m gonna stop with the hair thing. Get a picture, a new picture that can boost your confidence and boost the overall appeal you have in your brand.

Chris Villanueva 13:54
All right, I hope that this was helpful. I hope this was motivational for you as you kick off your job search in the new year, if you are looking for a resume writer to partner with, head on over to letseatgrandma.com you can either get a free resume critique if you are looking to shop around, or if you are ready to dive right into it. I highly recommend you order one of our packages today. Thank you so much, and I can’t wait to see you next time.

Chris Villanueva 14:19
Career Warrior Podcast, and before you go, remember, if you’re not seeing the results you want in your job, search our highly trained team of professional resume writers here at Let’s Eat, Grandma. Can Help head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ to get a free resume critique and $70 off any one of our resume writing packages. We talk all the time on the show about the importance of being targeted in your job search, and with our unique writing process and focus on individual attention, you’ll get a resume cover letter and LinkedIn profile that are highly customized and tailored to your goals to help you get hired faster. Again, head on over to letseatgrandma.com/podcast/ Thanks, and I’ll see you next time you.