How to write a strong personal profile in your resume
Let's face it.
Writing a resume is not the most interesting thing in the world.
But, you cannot help it. You need a resume to get a new job.
When writing a resume, the personal profile is the most intimidating. After all, the experiences section is a list. You list down what you have done chronologically. Provided you have done some real work, it's not that hard to write the experiences section in your resume.
But writing the personal profile demands creativity.
And the personal profile is crucial. It's like the elevator pitch. A potential hiring manager may filter you out just by reading the personal profile.
Before you set out to write the perfect personal profile, let me tell you a secret.
You will not get it right the first time. But after multiple iterations, you can have a near perfect strong personal profile in your resume.
What makes a strong personal profile
The purpose of the personal profile is to communicate the value you can put on the table.
Don't try to show what a smart person you are. Nobody cares about that. Write your personal profile focusing on what you can deliver to the new team you hope to join.
Imaging that you meet your new manager in person. He or she asks "OK, tell me why should I offer you this position?"
How would you answer this question? That's what you should put into the personal profile.
What to write in the personal profile in resume
There is no one correct format for the personal profile. But there are strong and weak personal profiles.
I am going to share you a framework to write a strong personal profile.
Let's dive in.
This framework has three steps.
- Step #1: State your unique selling point
- Step #2: Make your claim
- Step #3: Show what you can deliver...
Step #1: State your unique selling point
Your unique selling point doesn't have to make you globally unique.
But, it should help you stand out from the crowd.
Are you certified with any cloud technology? Do you have x number of years of experience with a specific tech stack? Do you hold a bachelor's degree in a relevant field? These things can differentiate you from the other potential candidates.
Let's see how we can put some unique selling points into words.
Example-1:
3 x AWS Certified DevOps professional with 8 years of experience on AWS.
Example-2:
DevOps engineer with 7 years of experience in operating on-premise Kubernetes.
Example-3:
DevOps lead with experience in managing 20+ member DevOps team supporting 200 developers.
Step #2: Make your claim
The unique selling point alone is not going to claim you the due recognition. So, make your claim explicitly by sharing a key achievement in the next sentence.
Look at these examples.
Example-1:
Reduced AWS cloud bill 40% by optimizing Kubernetes cluster resource allocation.
Example-2:
Built a CICD pipeline with GitHub and ArgoCD and achieved a 100+ daily deployments frequency.
If you don't have previous experience in DevOps, but have some experiences in a related field you can still make the claim.
Example-3:
Administrated 20+ MySQL databases instances ensuring 99.5% uptime SLA.
If you don't have any work experience, you can make the claim with a project.
Example-4:
Created an e-commerce application with 24 microservices and deployed on AWS Fargate.
Consider these three points when making your the claim.
Make the claim with your most recent and significant achievement. If you are writing about something you did 10 years ago, it may look awkward.
Be super specific. Name the tech stack or the methods you used. Include numbers if applicable.
Just mention the claim in the personal profile. You can include more details later in your resume.
Step #3: Show what you can deliver...
The third and the final part of your personal profile is how you can add value to the organization.
To write this part, you need to know about the new organization and the responsibilities of the new role. So, read the job description thoroughly and research about the organization before start writing.
Here are some questions that can guide you when researching about the organization.
- Is it a startup company or an enterprise?
- What's the type of the industry?
- What's the client base?
- Is it a product-based or service-based organization?
- How is the work culture like?
- What 's the tech stack?
- What's the size of the DevOps team?
Here are some examples.
Example-1:
Eager to work in a remote-first team and help clients optimize cloud costs and gain maximum efficiency.
Example-2:
Keen on pursuing a DevOps Lead role working on challenging problems and mentoring junior DevOps engineers.
Example-3:
Looking for a challenging fast-phased startup environment.
Example-4:
Loves to work hands-on in Kubernetes on an on-premise cloud.
Creating the strong personal profile
To create your strong personal profile, put together what you have written in the following order.
Your unique selling point. + Your claim. + What you can deliver...
3 x AWS Certified DevOps professional with 8 years of experience on AWS. Reduced AWS cloud bill 40% by optimizing Kubernetes cluster resource allocation. Eager to work in a remote-first team and help clients optimize cloud costs and gain maximum efficiency.
Easy. Isn't it?
3 tips to write a strong personal profile
Tip #1: Don't use personal pronouns
Don't start the personal profile with "I am a DevOps engineer 7 years of experience ...". That's against the resume etiquette. It also sounds week.
Instead, write "DevOps engineer with 7 years of experience ...". That sounds punchy.
Tip #2: Don't use fluffy words
Reread your personal profile and cut off flashy and fluffy words. No one is going to hire you just because you say you are an "exceptional performer", "outstanding achiever", or "hard working individual".
Also check whether you have too many adjectives. Just cut them off.
Tip #3: Don't make it too long
Don't write a big chunk of text as your personal profile or nobody will take time to read it.
Here's a rule of thumb: If your personal profile is longer than 5 lines it's just too long.
Some people just do not bother about the personal profile. But having a strong and concise personal profile is always a plus point.
Always tweak the personal profile for each job you are applying. If you are going to apply multiple jobs with the same resume with minimum changes, the personal profile is the one you should change.
Even if you are not actively looking for a job right now, it's a good practice to have a handy resume. So, start writing your strong personal profile right now.
Thanks for reading.
-Indika