The Golden Resume by Brian Robben: Book Summary

In this book summary of The Golden Resume by Brian Robben, you’ll find my notes, high-level ideas, valuable lessons, and important action steps.

The Golden Resume Summary

A winning resume has to stand out and pack a powerful punch if it has any shot of winning a competitive job search.

Your resume is one of the single most important documents in your entire life. Treat it that way for best results!

Studies show that companies spend as little as six seconds reading your resume. That means you have to make the most of your limited time in front of their eyes. Don’t waste a single word on your resume.

Don’t undermine your job search by committing a common mistake like writing a general resume, having spelling error, missing information, or allowing a questionable Internet presence.

The super majority of companies will check your digital footprint (Google search, social media profiles, etc.) before interviewing or hiring you. Make it easy on them by creating an online presence that shows you in a positive light: start a blog, have professional social media accounts, create or update your LinkedIn profile, or start a YouTube channel.

Confidence is contagious in your job search. If you’re confident, the other side is more likely to believe you’re a solid candidate who they want to hire.

You have to market yourself with your resume. How well you sell yourself determines the success or failure of your job search—it’s that simple.

Writing vague bullet points on your resume is a terrible move. Go above and beyond to write specific numbers, percentages, and details about your work experience and what you contributed.

The best way to win over an interviewer is through specific storytelling. Tell them of previous experiences where you succeeded and the exact outcome. This will give them confidence you will perform for their company.

Winning resumes are made by the content in them, not the fancy design, formatting, or paper. Don’t waste your time doing little things to procrastinate on writing a killer resume.

Many people don’t realize the power of their network. If you truly want a job, leave no rock uncovered by asking your parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, professors, and whoever you can think of if they no anyone who can assist your job search.

Mini Summary

You have to know precisely what the hiring manager is looking for before you attempt to write your resume. Otherwise you’re playing a guessing game. And why guess when you can target exactly what they want?

With so much competition and difficulty to get the job you want, you need to shine a light on the best version of yourself. Sell yourself as best as you can in these job searches. There’s no other way.

Humans, including hiring managers, are programmed to love stories. Write your resume and answer interview questions in story format (context, action, result) and you’ll win job offers left and right.

Three Favorite Quotes

“If you want to develop a purpose for your resume, you’ve got to better understand the mind of the people evaluating you. What exactly are they thinking? It’s your job to figure it out.”

“If you see resume building as a marketing strategy, you’ll already be ahead of your competition. The good news is that I found that almost no one puts their resume in the mental frame of a personal marketing strategy. So when you do think that way, you’ll be the one who gets extraordinary results.“

“The lesson here is if you can tell a good story, you have a huge upper hand over the other applicants who choose not to tell narratives, or cannot communicate them well.”

Action Steps For You

Remember the idea that your resume is arguably the most important document in your professional career.

And not many people teach you resume strategies to get real-life results, which is why so many resumes are terrible.

So before you jump into writing a resume, spend serious time knowing the science and art behind how you win over hiring managers and companies to pick you.

Know your marketing strategy. Know what companies need. Know how to deliver that to them. And then you’ll have plenty of job offers.

If you don’t know how to precisely do this, order The Golden Resume to get all the details not included in this high-level summary.