Those who know, know: there’s a Youtuber called Ali Abdaal. He used to be a doctor and later turned into a full-time content creator. In one of his recent videos, he talks about the resumes people prepare. He actually wants to hire someone, and while hiring he goes through the resumes he received and turns it into a video. It’s a 30-minute video — you can watch the whole thing if you like.

Since I like scanning the comments while listening to a video, one comment caught my eye. Someone had watched the video before me and pulled out a 13-point summary on preparing a resume. I liked it a lot, so I wanted to translate and publish it both on my blog and in my newsletter, hoping it helps you too.

13 Resume Preparation Tactics

1. Know that there is a third door in job applications. For example, in Turkey you can apply through Linkedin or Kariyer.Net. But you can also increase your chances by writing directly to people who work at that company and are looking for someone to work with them. That was just one example of the third door — you can create your own doors.
2. Send people e-mails. You can reach people not only through automated systems, but through personal mail, DMs and similar channels.
3. Make it easy for the other side to say yes. For example, they could try you for a month. Or offer something like “you can try my skills free for a month”.
4. Have a portfolio for the job you want. It can be a blog, a website or a Youtube channel.
5. Keep your resume short. If you can fit everything you have on one page, good for you.
6. Don’t use the same resume for every company. Equip your resumes with different skills or qualities according to what the organization wants.
7. Say you’re applying for an internship: at this point the employer doesn’t look at why the internship would benefit you, but at how you will benefit them.
8. Prepare and present more than what’s asked of you. For example, they ask for a resume and there’s a “why should we accept you” section. You could prepare a video for that part. That way you can comfortably use your facial expressions, your tone of voice and your hand gestures.
9. Understand the vibe of the place you’re applying to. When applying to a corporate company, be a bit more formal — set up an official style of e-mailing and communication. But at a startup you can use a more innovative, more informal style.
10. Don’t talk nonsense in your resumes. Instead of resumes inflated like a balloon, approach things through what your best skills are and the examples you can give for them.
11. Use clean writing and clear expression. Don’t try to decorate your text or puff it up. Use a plain, simple language everyone will understand.
12. Calibrate your enthusiasm. No matter how excited you are, take care to stay calm and use that kind of tone in your messages.
13. Even though we said you can use informal language in the points above, watch out for grammar and spelling mistakes.

There were 2 more points, but since they didn’t feel very necessary from my perspective, 13 points felt clean and right. I hope this has been a useful translation and summary. I didn’t just copy the text — I made my own additions and cuts.

Take good care of yourself, goodbye!