I was watching movie trailers before a film recently when it hit me: the best trailers are masterclasses in technical storytelling. They have to compress a two-hour narrative into 90 seconds, highlight the most compelling elements, and convince someone to invest their time and money — all while maintaining authenticity about what they're actually delivering.
Sound familiar? That's exactly what a resume needs to do for your career story.
As someone who's been on both sides of technical hiring — writing resumes for career transitions and reviewing hundreds of them as a team lead — I've noticed that the most effective resumes follow principles remarkably similar to great movie marketing. The difference is that most people approach resume writing like they're documenting a project timeline rather than crafting a compelling narrative.