Part Two - Creating your materials
Hello and welcome to part two of my four-week series on navigating a job search in 2025. If you missed ‘Part One – Preparing to Search’, you can find it here.
This week we’re focusing on creating your application materials—your résumé and cover letter. For context, most of my work as a search consultant is in the nonprofit sector, partnering with organizations seeking leadership candidates. And most of my career consulting is with people pursuing those kinds of roles. That experience clearly informs my advice, as does my personal preference for a very personalized and conversational approach to application materials. That said, I hope there’s something here for everyone.
The Purpose of Your Materials
Let’s start with the basics - what is the purpose of each document?
Résumé – maps out your career development from your education to your most recent position. Past and current oriented.
Cover letter – connects the dots: it tells the hiring manager how your skills and experience will help them meet their goals as outlined in the job posting. Future oriented.
Résumés: My Top Tips
Length
Forget the old “one-page résumé” rule—unless the posting specifically asks for it. Use length appropriate to your career stage. Rough guidelines are:
2 pages – early career, coordinator or manager level
3 pages – early/mid-career, director or senior director
4 pages – senior leadership: C-suite, VP, President/CEO, ED
Design & Layout
Obviously, people have preferences and opinions about this. I’m seeing a move away from heavy design, photos, and color blocks. For me, readability is key, meaning:
Font size 11 or higher
Plenty of white space (between sections and within bullets)
Bold or slightly larger font for section headings
Bullet points over paragraphs
Header
City/state (not mailing address)
Phone & email
Website (if applicable)
LinkedIn
A tagline or short professional summary. This should succinctly describe what you do and why you do it. It might also include what you are looking to do, or the difference you are looking to make. Examples:
Tagline: “Coach. Consultant. Search.” or “Fundraiser. Communicator. Advocate.
Summary: “Nonprofit leader dedicated to arts education for under-resourced youth” or “Fundraising professional with a passion for connecting donors to causes they care about.”
Sections (suggested order)
Professional Experience (start with current role; this should take up most of page one for senior level positions)
Education
Training/Certifications/Professional Development
Other Relevant Experience – subdivide as needed: board service, volunteer work, conferences, publications, podcasts, languages, honors, etc.
Affiliations/Memberships (if relevant)
Technical Skills
Other Interests -read the room on this one. If it’s the kind of company/organization that is explicit in their understanding that people bring their whole selves to work - and if YOU value that. Feel free to include somethings you like to do in your free time that brings you joy - your hobbies, side hustles, and passions.
A few other notes:
Dates: Leave dates off your education (to avoid age bias). Only include months if you were in a role for less than a year.
Gaps: Less of a concern than in the past. If you have a significant gap, address it briefly in your cover letter or interview, rather than letting assumptions be made.
Tenure: Short stints are common now, but senior-level hiring managers still notice if you’ve never stayed longer than two years. Consider proactively addressing this (“I’m eager to find an organization where I can contribute meaningfully and stay for the long term”).
Professional Experience: The Heart of Your Résumé
Your work history is the main character of your professional story. Here’s how to make it shine:
Don’t make the reader work hard - I don’t want to have to look up a prior company or organization you have worked for to understand its scope and work. Don’t make me google an acronym or reference that is obvious to you even if it's common in your field. Don’t assume that the hiring manager has expertise in your area.
Tell your story. A resume is your professional story in bullet form. Can there be a throughline narrative that helps to demonstrate your motivations as you move from one role to the next?
Make it sound like you. Use the language you would use if you were telling someone about your work experience and allow your unique qualities to shine through.
Nuts & bolts:
Context matters. Under each employer, include a 2–3 sentence overview of the organization and your role. (Budget size, # employees, mission, purpose, scope of your position, who you managed, etc.). Linking to the website is becoming common.
Promotions. We want to see your commitment and advancement within a single organization so list each separately to show growth, but don’t repeat responsibilities across roles. Highlight new or expanded responsibilities.
Responsibilities vs. Achievements. For your current (and maybe prior long-tenured) roles, separate into two sections:
Primary Responsibilities: What you were charged with. (Consider aligning functional areas—Operations, Finance, Fundraising, etc.—with the job posting.)
Selected Achievements: What you’re most proud of delivering.
Bullets: 1–2 lines, no periods (or consistent if you include them). Start with strong verbs, vary your language, and double-check verb tenses.
Cover Letters: Yes, They Still Matter
If you’re asked for one, assume it matters and that it will be read. I see them as essential. Here’s what I am looking for:
Format & Style
About one page (slightly longer for ED/President roles)
Repeat your main contact details at the top
Conversational tone—let me hear your voice
Structure
Opening (short) – Introduce yourself and your “why.” Reference your professional identity statement if you’ve crafted one. State the role you are applying for and why it excites you. (A short, authentic story can be powerful if relevant—especially if you’re an alum, beneficiary, or have a personal tie.)
Paragraph One – Show you understand the organization and role by clearly aligning the content in this paragraph with the primary responsibilities and success measurements as laid out in the posting. Acknowledge the mission or purpose, the moment they’re in, and why this role matters.
Paragraph Two – About you. Don’t just retell your résumé—be future-oriented. “Here’s what you’d get if you picked me.” Highlight your skills, experience, and personal qualities. Show how you’d make a difference.
Closing (short) – Reinforce why this position is right for you now. Share any personal reasons it’s a good fit (ties to the community, for example). Thank them for their consideration.
A Note on AI
AI is a wonderful companion for building, refining, and proofreading your materials. For senior leadership roles, though, I recommend using it only to sketch and refine. A cover letter is also a writing sample, and hiring managers want to see your own voice. Don’t just feed the posting into AI and submit what it generates.
Final Thought
When I first meet a candidate, I want to recognize the person I read about in their résumé and cover letter. Do your materials reflect who you are, what you care about, and what motivates you? Can I get a sense of your strengths, values, and the kind of colleague you’ll be? If so, you’re on the right track.
That’s all for now (I know—it was a lot!). I hope something here is useful as you shape your materials. Reach out if you’d like a thought partner to work alongside you, and I’ll see you next week for Part Three, where we’ll dig into the application process itself.