How to Make A Resume that Stands Out in 2026 (after hiring 1,000s)

0:00Stop being invisible to recruiters.

0:01You're competing with thousands of other

0:03candidates and your resume needs to

0:05stand out. I've hired thousands [music]

0:06of people and have reviewed tens of

0:08thousands of resumes. In the next few

0:10minutes, I'll show you six ways to make

0:12your resume [music] stand out, exactly

0:13what hiring managers are looking for

0:15when they decide who gets the interview,

0:16and fatal mistakes to avoid. Chapter 1,

0:18know how recruiters read [music]

0:20resumes. Here's what most people don't

0:22know. Resumes get read in three stages.

0:25Think of them [music] as gates you need

0:26to pass. First is the skim. It's under 2

0:29seconds. Then the scan, usually around

0:3210 seconds. [music] And finally, if you

0:33pass both of those, they'll study it,

0:36which could go like a minute plus. The

0:37next thing you're going to want to think

0:39about is that people read resumes in an

0:41F pattern. They go [music] down the

0:43spine and they look at the titles first,

0:45then they scan the resume looking for

0:47keywords. If those look good, then

0:50they'll read all your skills and

0:51bullets. I'll talk about keywords and

0:53how to structure your bullets in a bit,

0:54but this means that your top bullet in

0:56each position has to be amazing. If

0:58[music] that first bullet is strong,

1:00they will read the rest. If it's weak,

1:02then they're going to move on to the

1:03next person. And then soft skills, don't

1:05just list them. Demonstrate [music] them

1:07in your bullets. Led a team of five

1:09shows leadership way better than writing

1:12leadership skills in your skill section.

1:14There's other things hiring managers are

1:16judging you on in this process and

1:17they're not so obvious. I've shared

1:19those in this [music] video and I've

1:20even covered things that they likely

1:22won't admit. The link is in the

1:23description as well. All right, number

1:25two, you need to master the keyword game

1:27for your resume to stand out. Since

1:29recruiters and hiring managers are

1:30skimming, [music] they have specific

1:32skills in mind. And they want to see

1:33those keywords immediately before they

1:35waste any time reading deep. So you

1:37might be thinking, how do I find the

1:39right keywords? You need to look at the

1:41job description. And I recommend you go

1:42to the preferred qualifications or the

1:44nice-to-haves. That's their wish list.

1:46It's what they really, really want. Then

1:48you got to make sure that you check the

1:49boxes on the requirements. And here's

1:51the insider tip, even though

1:52responsibilities describe [music] what

1:54you're going to be doing, companies want

1:56someone who's already done these things

1:58before. So, even though they're about

1:59the future, [music] they're going to

2:00want to see that you've done them. Look,

2:01the hierarchy is simple. Preferred

2:03qualifications first, then requirements,

2:05[music]

2:05then responsibilities. And focus on the

2:07technical and hard skills. Those need to

2:09jump off the page. I'll show you what I

2:11mean by that when I cover writing resume

2:13bullets later in the video. Another

2:14crucial reason the right keywords make

2:16your resume stand out is because most

2:18companies [music] use an ATS for hiring,

2:20and there are thousands of applicants.

2:22Hiring managers and recruiters will

2:24usually filter the applicants by [music]

2:26keyword to get to a smaller pool of

2:28qualified candidates. If it's a graphic

2:30designer job, they'll filter by Adobe

2:32Illustrator. I've explained [music]

2:34everything you need to know about ATS

2:35systems in two of my most recent videos,

2:37so make sure to check those out if

2:38you're curious how that works. Tailoring

2:40your resume for each job can take

2:42forever, so here's a shortcut that could

2:43take minutes [music] instead of hours.

2:45Teal has a built-in job matcher that

2:47pulls the keywords directly from the job

2:49description and highlights them by hard

2:51skill, [music] soft skill, and job

2:52description section. And you can use it

2:54for free with the link in the

2:55description, along with the videos I

2:56mentioned earlier. Chapter three,

2:58context plus competence test. [music]

3:00When hiring managers look at resumes,

3:01they're making connections as fast as

3:03possible, which leads me to the third

3:05way to make your resume stand out. You

3:07need to make your resume easily

3:08scannable for two things: [music]

3:10context and competence. Context means

3:12similarities. Have you worked in similar

3:14companies, used similar tools, been in

3:16the same industry? If so, you have a

3:18better chance of being hired. That

3:20domain knowledge really matters.

3:22Competence [music] is about specific

3:23abilities. If they need someone who's

3:25done customer activation or retention or

3:27conversion optimization, they're looking

3:29for those exact words [music] that they

3:30put in the job description. And

3:32sometimes they'll use specific tools or

3:34technologies as a proxy. If you know

3:36their tech stack, [music] you can

3:37probably do the job. Now, this test

3:39happens in seconds. Pass it and they'll

3:41keep reading, fail and then you're

3:42probably out. Number four, you need to

3:44format your resume for humans [music]

3:46and the ATS. Keep it simple. I know

3:48design can be the fun part where you can

3:50express yourself, but fancy layouts like

3:52Canva resume [music] templates can

3:54actually really hurt your chances by

3:55making it hard for the ATS to read and

3:57then even harder for people to skim. Use

3:59a single column resume. Two columns

4:01[music] might seem more efficient, but

4:03the ATS sometimes can't figure out the

4:05flow of the information and then when

4:07you upload that PDF or Word doc, it's

4:09going to have a really hard time being

4:10parsed to auto-fill the application for

4:12you. And here's what matters for humans.

4:14Page one has to be incredible. That's

4:16what gets them to keep reading. [music]

4:18If page one is clear, concise, and

4:20immediately shows why you're qualified,

4:22then they'll read page two. But if page

4:24one doesn't hook them, game over.

4:25[music] Clean design equals easier

4:28reading. Easier reading means they'll

4:30actually see your qualifications. Don't

4:32make them work so hard for it. So if

4:33you're using fancy designs or visuals on

4:35your resume, you're actually hurting

4:37your chances. The ATS won't read them

4:38properly, [music] so avoid these highly

4:40designed Canva resume. And I cover why

4:43they could hurt your job search in this

4:44video. [music] On to my fifth way to

4:46make your resume stand out. Here's my

4:48golden rule. Show the 10% you that's

4:50100% relevant to them. Look, your career

4:53is long and broad. You've done a lot of

4:55incredible things, but companies don't

4:57care about all that. They only care

4:59about what matters to them right [music]

5:00now. And when they're skimming through

5:02your irrelevant experiences, they may

5:04not ever get to the content that

5:06actually matters. Unless [music] you

5:07happen to be a perfect fit for a job, if

5:10you're not tailoring your submissions,

5:11you're going to be filtered out

5:12immediately. Period. Full stop. Now, if

5:15you use Teal, you can [music] paste the

5:16job description in. It shows you exactly

5:19which keywords you need to hit on your

5:20resume and you can adjust your bullets

5:22to match. Speaking of resume bullets,

5:25chapter six, achievement architecture.

5:27The sixth way to make your resume stand

5:29out is to structure your bullets based

5:31on

5:31>> [music]

5:31>> achievements and not responsibilities.

5:33Don't just show what you did, show

5:36[music] the results. Here's the formula

5:37that changes everything. Results plus

5:40metric plus context. Let me tell you

5:42why. [music] Because recruiters decide

5:44in seven seconds. Your impact needs to

5:47hit them immediately. All right, let me

5:49break it down. Result, [music]

5:50what changed because of you. Metric, the

5:53proof with specific numbers. [music]

5:55And context, a brief explanation of how

5:57or what you did. Here's an example. So,

5:59instead of writing responsible for

6:01social media management, [music] you

6:03write increased engagement by 150%

6:05through strategic content calendar

6:07implementation. Do you see the

6:08difference? The results come first,

6:10[music] increased engagement. Then the

6:12metric, 150%. Then the context, what you

6:16did to get there. You don't need a

6:17metric on every single resume bullet,

6:20but you absolutely need one in the first

6:22bullet of each position. [music] That

6:24first bullet is your hook. It's what's

6:26going to get them to keep reading. So,

6:28stop writing about responsibilities and

6:30[music] start showing why the business

6:32was better because you were there. Lead

6:34with the impact, back it up with

6:35numbers, then briefly explain how you

6:38did it. That's how you convert passive

6:39job descriptions into achievement

6:41[music] statements that get you hired.

6:43Look, the job's are just tough, but you

6:45don't have to be invisible anymore. Use

6:47these strategies, [music]

6:48get your resume right, and you're going

6:50to start getting noticed. Now, let me

6:52rapid-fire through some mistakes that

6:53get resumes rejected [music] instantly.

6:55First, application forms. Fill out every

6:57question, apply early, and never lie.

7:00Companies actually read every single one

7:02of those responses, and [music] I always

7:04get super turned off with one-word

7:05answers. I mean, does this person even

7:07want the job? Are they putting in any

7:09effort at all? Second, graphics

7:11overload. Nobody takes those skill bars

7:13and charts seriously. [music] It's a

7:15weird self-assessment that actually

7:17makes your resume harder to read and

7:18harder to parse. Third, the kitchen sink

7:20problem. Don't throw everything on

7:22there. If you can't curate information,

7:24>> [music]

7:24>> it shows you can't edit and you can't

7:26prioritize, and you're making the reader

7:28do all the work. We don't have time for

7:30that. Here's my fourth tip, going into

7:32the AI personality void. I am all for

7:34using AI, but pure AI-written resumes

7:37lack personality [music] and

7:38consistency. And yes, we can tell. Make

7:41sure your voice comes through. There's a

7:43right way to use AI to get help, and I'm

7:45covering that in one of my next videos,

7:46so make sure to subscribe. And one more

7:48thing, if you're changing careers,

7:50>> [music]

7:50>> you need to build the bridge in your

7:52professional summary. You need to help

7:54readers understand how you [music] go

7:55from what you were doing to what they

7:57need. They won't give you the benefit of

7:59the doubt, so you have to connect the

8:01dots for them. I want you to know that

8:02you can control your system. [music] If

8:05you follow the right strategies and the

8:06right tools, you will start to see

8:08progress. You need [music] to stop

8:10guessing and start proving your value.

8:12Use tools that make your job search

8:14actually manageable. And outside of

8:16optimizing your resume, you should find

8:18ways to make yourself more hirable,

8:20especially in today's job market. This

8:21is going to be the topic of my next

8:23video, so subscribe to make sure you

8:24don't miss it. Remember, Teal is here to

8:26help you check your [music] format,

8:28quantify your achievements, and

8:29guarantee you're hitting the keywords

8:31hiring managers are actually searching

8:33for. You can try it for free, the link's

8:35in the description. And if you want to

8:36upgrade to get our best [music]

8:37features, I've got a special discount

8:39code for you down there, too. Thanks for

8:40watching, and I'll see you on the next

8:41one.