Resumes Real Talk with Recruiter Bill Fitzgerald
On October 22, 2025, FitzDrake Search’s CEO, Bill Fitzgerald offered his insights as to why some resumes stand out—and why others fall short. This interactive Q&A session was his first with the Pivot with Purpose initiative, and Laura Sheehan (Georgetown SFS) moderated the discussion.
We are all very familiar with resumes and their importance. Indeed, we’ve crafted them with Marcelle Yeager , learned how we can strengthen them using AI with Jeremy Schifeling , and (once again with Marcelle Yeager’s help) made our federal experiences private sector ready in our previous session. Yet many of us are still having difficulty finding that next opportunity. Some prospective employers haven’t even gotten back to us.
In this session, Bill Fitzgerald drew from his experience on the other side of the hiring table to discuss what makes resumes stand out, how we can improve them, and why they are so important.
According to him, there are three key takeaways we should all keep in mind when drafting and developing our resumes:
- Demonstrate that you have the technical or functional skills to do the job that is listed.
Speaking from the recruiter’s perspective, Fitzgerald stressed that this question was his principal point of focus when evaluating candidates and looking to recruit job seekers for particular position openings. As he explained, “anything else that does not speak to your specific qualifications for the job or detracts from this case is a distraction and weakens your resume.” It is critical to keep your resume focused!
- All resumes should answer the following five questions: (A) who you are, (B) where have you worked, (C) what roles have you held, (D) what operations were your responsibility, and (E) what have you accomplished?
Drawing from his experience, Fitzgerald argued that this first question (i.e., “what are you?”) is critically important to answer. Here, he advises us to be as specific as possible, avoiding vague “soft skills,” and to state explicitly what our area of expertise is and how we leverage those skills.
Our answers to questions B and C are more straight-forward – indeed, most (if not all) of us already include this information on our resumes. Yet Fitzgerald recommends we add more detail to these sections. For example, we should consider including a brief description of the company and its work and we would be well-served by offering our position titles or work in as specific terms as possible. When we provide this information, we allow recruiters to have a better idea of our “fit” in a role or organization and, as a result, increase the likelihood we will be sought for that specific role.
When answering the fourth question (i.e., what were your responsibilities?”), Fitzgerald implored attendees to offer a two or three sentence overview of your scope and scale in a given role. Providing this information allows any recruiter to more easily identify your potential “match” with another organization’s needs. A recruiter’s ability to identify your “fit” with an organization further enhances your chances of being hired.
Finally, we should be expected to address our accomplishments clearly and succinctly, offering hard data whenever possible. For Fitzgerald, we list our duties, processes, and activities without enumerating specific outcomes. Measurable results are prized on resumes. They allow us to show our impact and illustrate our effectiveness in a certain role. No other element on our resumes will be more persuasive. Thus, the more outcomes we can show, the stronger our resumes will be.
- Never lose sight of the reader!
Fitzgerald admitted that this last point may seem “radical” to some. Yet, for him, it is something too many of us forget to do. While many companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to vet job candidates, we should not simply write for the algorithm. While Fitzgerald acknowledged that there is a lot of advice on how to write for these systems, we do so at our own peril.
On this point, Fitzgerald maintained that most of us will not find jobs on a job board or cold application. Instead, most of us will likely find a job through networking or direct referral. In these cases, a human is reading your resume and, consequently, we should write with that audience firmly in mind.
After Fitzgerald’s initial remarks, the session was opened up to interactive discussion. Many participants had their questions at the ready, including: (A) what should we include in our job and place of work descriptions, (B) what the ideal length of our resume should be, and (C) how to select the best accomplishments for our bullet points, among numerous other questions.
He also shared a sample resume that will hopefully help many of us strengthen our resumes and pivot to new careers successfully!
Fitzgerald acknowledged that the job market is currently undergoing significant change and stress. These “shocks to the system” make it harder to find work and emphasize the importance of having strong resumes that much more! That said, he encouraged participants to not lose sight of the tremendous skills and background we all possess – once again, our skills are prized in the private sector and opportunities await us all!
In this vein, and to close the event, Laura Sheehan announced that Pivot with Purpose (with Fitzgerald’s help!) would launch a resume collection drive to make sure your resumes get into the hands of recruiters in various private sector firms! Please feel free to access our registration page to submit your resume and read more about this initiative!
Other Previous Sessions
Please feel free to browse our other previous sessions to access summaries, video content, and more information about our other events!