Your resume is a 3 part marketing tool for you in the Real Estate and Finance Industry. It needs to be succinct, personable, professional, and scannable.

Think of the hiring manager as a human. A human who has to read a lot of terrible resumes. All to narrow their choices down to the top candidates. Don't make them work too hard to get you to the interview stage.

Let’s take you through the process of making it easy for any hiring manager to say yes to getting you in for an interview.

Before you start, pick a template

Getting creative with your resume format makes getting your resume to the interview stage difficult.

Hiring managers for real estate and financial institutions spend anywhere from 6-30 seconds on a resume. At that point, a decision is made on whether it is worth their time to keep reading, or move on to the next candidate.

Get past that 30 second first glance by making it easy for them to see that you are a great candidate.

Part One: Who are You?

Your Name

You might be tempted to use a flamboyant font. Hiring managers are unconsciously looking for a reason to narrow the pool of candidates. Don’t let a hard to read font be the reason you get put in the "no" pile. Keep it bold, at the top, and larger than any other headings. 

“Live” Contact Information

Include your email address, phone number, and LinkedIn profile. Make sure that you “live” link these. The easier you make it for the hiring manager to contact you, the more likely you are to get called into an interview.

Make an “Offer”, not a “Career Objective”

It’s truth time. Finance and Real Estate Industry hiring managers do not have time to help you fulfill your career objectives. They are on a deadline to fill this role. They want to know what you can do for their Mortgage Brokerage or Real Estate Firm.

That is it. Cut to the chase and get to what you offer. If the template you are using has a space for "Career Objectives" or "Overview", replace the text with your "Offer".

Loan Originator with Over 10 Years of Experience in the Mortgage Industry
Experienced Processor with Management and Customer Service History
MBA Graduate with 4 Years Experience in Retail Banking

Once you have decided on your Offer, use 2-3 sentences to back up this claim. Take a look at these action words to help you create succinct, powerful, and SHORT sentences. No one is going to read a wall of text on a resume, so keep it short or cut it altogether.

If there is a particular certification necessary to make you eligible for this position, make it a part of your “Offer” section. This keeps the hiring manager moving down your page to the skills section. If they like what you are bringing to the table in your “Offer” they will want to know if there is a skills match.

Skills Match, but not Matchy-Matchy.

Highlight all the hard and soft skills listed in the position description. Map them over to your resume. You will find a lot of the same skills in the same type of roles. But be on the lookout for any differences.

Hiring managers are not always looking for an exact match. Mix it up a bit and don’t be afraid to showcase soft-skills too.

Sometimes there is a preference stated for knowledge of certain software. If you don’t have knowledge of that software, but use something similar, include it. If you don't know what the software is, Google it. This communicates that you are not going to be completely out of your depth when it comes to software use.

Part  2: Why should they care

The hiring manager is still reading! Fantastic. Now you have to wow them with your experience.

Impressive Title or Impressive Company?

You want to keep your experience scannable. The best way to do that is to highlight either your title or the name of your past employer. You are going to have to make a judgment call about what is going to impress the hiring manager more.

Vice President of Mortgage Lending | Small Town Bank
Mortgage Officer | Chase Bank

If you think that the big bank name recognition will do you more good, BOLD the names of your past employers.

Vice President of Mortgage Lending | Small Town Bank
Mortgage Officer | Chase Bank

It might be a good idea to create two versions of your resume with this formatting difference.

Day-to-Day Doesn't Pay

A hiring manager wants to read about how you contributed to the success of your last employer.nThat you answered the phones or watered the office plants is irrelevant, so skip it. 

  • Beat YOY Lending Goal by 12% past 3 years
  • Employee of the Year for Leadership 2019
  • ROI up 42% with Social Media Campaign
  • Reduced Errors by 10% with Improved Processes Documentation

Give them the highlight reel of what your manager would say about you.

Part 3: What have you invested?

At this point, the hiring manager wants to know how much you have invested in yourself as far as education, certifications, or investments in your community.

Education and Certifications

Real Estate License | Oregon
CE Credit Certification can be supplied

University of Oregon
Bachelors of Arts, Economics
Cum Laude

Associations/Boards/Memberships

Real Estate and Financial firms are committed to the communities they serve. Wrap up your resume by showing that you are committed as well.

  • Neighborhood Association Membership? Yes.
  • Rotary Club? Yes.
  • Junior League? Yes.
  • Local Business Alliance? Yes.
  • Financial Beginning Educator? Yes.

Scout leader? Soccer coach? Leave it until you are seated at the interview table.

Don't belong to any associations or boards? Time to join one. If you want to grow in your career in Real Estate or Finance, it is time to start acting like it. NAMMBA.org is a great place to start!

Take a second look

Make sure that you check your resume over like a hiring manager would.

Is it:

  • Succinct?
  • Personable and Professional?
  • Scannable?

Would YOU want to interview the person you represented on this page?

Your resume is a professional marketing tool to get you in the door. Let it peak the interest of the hiring manager. You don't have to give them a play-by-play of your whole career, just the highlight reel.

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Looking for more guidance? 

We would love to have you join us at NAMMBA. We offer mentorships, leadership academies, training, and more. Come see what we are all about and learn about our Mission 2025.

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