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20-second career tip

The resume mistake that makes you sound junior (even if you're not)

About Rohan

Hey, I’m Rohan!

I write thoughts about life and career strategy a few times a month.

I run Coached, the behavioral science lab, and Resume Worded, the best software for job seekers.

A good place to start is our free 3‑minute, science-backed personality test.

Look at these two resume lines:

     

❌ Managed social media accounts and increased engagement

           

✅ Grew company Instagram from 800 to 2,500 followers in 4 months by posting 3x weekly and collaborating with industry accounts

     

Same work. One sounds like an intern task, the other sounds like someone who knows what they're doing.

The difference? Specificity.

Most resume bullets are vague because people think they need to keep things general. But vague bullets make hiring managers skip right past you.

Here's another example:

     

❌ Led team to complete projects on time

           

✅ Led team of 5 analysts to deliver quarterly reports 3 days ahead of deadline, allowing senior leadership extra time for strategic planning

     

See the difference? The second set actually shows what you accomplished. When hiring managers see bullets like these, they stop and think "I need to talk to this person."

You likely have these details somewhere - team sizes, timelines, growth numbers, actual impact. You just don't know how to frame them, which is totally normal if you're not used to writing resumes.

Feel free to steal these examples and tweak them for your own resume. BUT, here’s an even smarter idea:

Upload your resume here and let our AI rewrite all your bullets with your actual details. It’ll also catch other mistakes you don’t realize you’re making.

Takes about 30 seconds. Might actually get you interviews.

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Illustration of Rohan Mahtani
Written by Rohan Mahtani
From Coached Weekly, issue 325.

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This is Coached Weekly, my career notes where I share the tiny % of ideas that actually work in real careers. It takes 5 minutes to read, but could speed up your career by years. I write this myself (no AI). —Rohan Mahtani (LinkedIn)

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