The [Show, Don't Tell] Technique

Evidencing qualities.

One of the most powerful principles of persuasive writing, borrowed from literature and film, is the rule of "show, don't tell."

Telling a recruiter "I'm a hard worker" or "I'm honest" has zero impact, as these are subjective claims that anyone can make without proof.

To be credible and memorable, the candidate must paint a mental picture through facts that demonstrate that quality without explicitly naming it.

Let's imagine that a candidate wants to highlight his or her capacity for commitment and effort.

Instead of using those adjectives, he might describe a situation: "During the fiscal close, I coordinated 24-hour rotating shifts for a week to ensure error-free audit delivery."

Reading this, the recruiter automatically infers that the person is hardworking and committed, and the conclusion is much more powerful because it stems from the reader's own inference from the evidence presented.

Behavioral evidence always trumps self-adjectivation.

Achievement Narrative

Each experience point on the resume has the potential to be a micro-story that emotionally engages the reader.

Instead of static lists, accomplishments can be structured as small narratives that include a challenge and a resolution.

This creates a human connection, as the brain is programmed to remember stories much better than isolated data.

For example, if an engineer wants to demonstrate his problem-solving skills, he should not simply put "Incident resolution".

It would be much more effective to narrate, "I diagnosed a critical failure on the production line that was causing daily downtime; I designed a 3D printed replacement part that permanently eliminated the problem and saved maintenance costs."

This narrative structure allows the recruiter to visualize the candidate in action, facing a real obstacle and overcoming it, which generates empathy and professional admiration.

Contextualization

For the "showcasing" technique to work, it is necessary to provide context. An achievement without context lacks scale and relevance.

Saying "I increased sales" is vague; saying "I increased sales in a recessionary market and with a marketing budget cut in half" endows the achievement with heroics.

Context helps to size up the difficulty of the task. If a human resources professional says he "hired 10 people," that's cold data.

If he contextualizes by saying that "You filled 10 vacancies of highly specialized technological profiles within 15 days for the urgent launch of a product", the achievement takes on immense value.

Providing details about constraints, tight deadlines, lack of resources or complexity of the environment allows the recruiter to appreciate the true extent of the candidate's capabilities.

Summary

Claiming subjective qualities has zero impact if not accompanied by real evidence. The candidate must paint a mental picture through facts that demonstrate that quality, allowing the recruiter to deduce competence for themselves.

Structuring accomplishments as short stories with a challenge and a resolution creates a human connection. This narrative allows you to visualize the candidate in action overcoming obstacles, which is more memorable than isolated data.

Providing context is necessary for accomplishments to have scale and real relevance. Detailing constraints, timelines or the complexity of the environment allows you to assess the true magnitude and difficulty of the candidate's capabilities.