4. Show initiative, especially when you’re just starting your career.

Although the measurable impact is attractive to recruiters, they also understand that it may not be applicable to everybody. In that case, explain in your resume how you’ve taken initiative. Initiative can look like this: 

• Reaching out to people that work at the company you’re interested in
• Reaching out to professionals in the industry you’re interested in
• Taking courses, sharing acknowledgements, getting certifications

Brian even suggests that “if there’s a company you’re really interested in working for, and you want to know what the challenges are within that company – because ultimately that company wants someone who can solve a problem for them – one way to do that is for you to actually reach out to people who used to work at that company.”

“Find out what’s going on in the company. Learn about the challenges. That way, when you’re in an interview setting, you can actually talk to them as if you know what’s going on with them and their company. It takes a lot of initiative to do that. But I can tell you, it stands out.”

Here’s an example of a high school student’s resume. Kelsie Johnson shows initiative. She goes above and beyond the expected by documenting what she’s learned during her Certified Nursing Assistant Internship. This shows future employers that she’s ambitious and goes the extra mile, setting her apart from other candidates.