Your Resume Matters — But Not for the Reasons You Think

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Let me be clear right out of the gate: Your resume will never be the reason you get hired with a Recruitment Agency

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But you still need to invest in it!

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This conversation comes up constantly when I’m working with candidates. Especially the sales talent who are frustrated. The ones who are saying things like: "I’m sending my resume out to agencies and I’m not getting calls." Or worse: "I know I’m a great rep. Why aren’t they seeing it?"

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So here it is - I need your resume, but my client doesn't. "Excuse me?"

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I need to know that you have the desired skills, achievements and industry intelligence so that I can present (sell) you to my client. There are two ways I can assess that without engaging with you (which is it what I am doing in the beginning stages of sourcing).

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Your resume and your LinkedIn profile. If you've applied for a role that is posted, I will look at both and scan quickly first for the following: Title, Industry, Location, Statistics. Then I will look deeper at achievements, role clarity and other things like tenure.

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Yes, I scan your resume. But I’m not just looking at what you did. I’m looking for how you think. Where the results are. What you’re not saying that I need to pull out in conversation.

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But my client (the company hiring) doesn't really care about your resume or your LinkedIn profile at this point. They care about MY assessment and presentation of you and your skills against the role they have.

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Because here’s the thing: I don’t just send your resume to my client. I send your story. With my notes. My perspective. My assessment of your fit for the company and role.

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I am working on a senior sales search with a client who’s incredibly sharp but extremely short on time and not particularly tech savvy. After my interviews with candidates, I sent detailed written profiles over to my client - I asked if they wanted to start conducting interviews.

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They said:

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“Jordana, just send me your notes. If you’ve talked to them and you’re endorsing them, I trust you and would prefer a call to discuss them"

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Now, you might hear that and think the resume didn’t matter. But here’s the reality: If that candidate’s resume or profile hadn’t caught my attention in the first place—they wouldn’t have made it to my short list.

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So yes, your resume does matter. But not in the way you think.

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Here’s What You Need to Focus On

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• Clear, results-based statements Don’t tell me what you were “responsible for.” Tell me what you achieved. If I can say "so what" - it needs more clarity.
• The Sniff Test - Do you have a similar title, responsibilities and role to the one advertised? If not, you can still apply, you just need to convince the Agency recruiter to spend time on you versus the people who have been there, done that.
• Quantify everything Revenue growth, % to quota, new logos, retention, renewal rates—whatever you've got. Use it.
• Ditch the fluff - no more than 3-4 bullet points per role
• Keep it clean - if you have 20 years of experience from a variety of companies, abbreviate the early roles. I am normally only looking in the last 10 years.
• Add Your Personality - nothing makes me more engaged than some humour or a striking initial statement.

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What Happens When We Work Together

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If we decide to partner, know this: I’m not here to re-write your resume for you. But I will challenge what’s in it. Because my job is to present you in a way that aligns with what the hiring manager needs to see. And if I can’t get there from your resume, we’ve got a problem.

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So do resumes matter? Yes. But only if they do the job they’re supposed to do—get the attention of the right person.

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If you're out there applying to job after job and getting nothing but silence… Take another look at your resume and ask:

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Would someone like me stop and want to know more?

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If the answer is no—then that’s where we start. And if you want help figuring that out, I’m a message away.

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