ruth
Experienced writers will often give this piece of advice: “Kill your darlings”.
When writing fiction, this means getting rid of unnecessary elements of a story – even though you may have spent countless hours developing that particular storyline, character or descriptive prose.
The same principle of editing holds true when writing job applications, resumes or at interview. Sometimes what you leave out is just as important as what you keep in – even though that experience may be very dear to your heart.
For example, if your career spans many decades don’t feed a hiring manager’s unconscious bias by listing every role you’ve had since high school. Summarise some of your earlier experience under a heading “Earlier Career Highlights” and remove the dates. You can also remove the dates from your qualifications.
Similarly, at interview there is a happy medium between providing enough information and too much. Guage the room, do your interviewers look engaged? Make sure to give the details needed without over sharing.
If you struggle to “kill your darlings”, I can help.
(Image: Suzy Hazelwood, Pexels)