Why Broad Experience Often Struggles
- May 13
- 2 min read
One of the more frustrating realities of modern hiring is that broad experience often becomes harder to position, not easier.
A lot of accomplished professionals have built careers that span multiple functions, leadership areas, industries, or operational responsibilities. They’ve solved different kinds of business problems, worked across teams, and developed skill sets that don’t fit neatly into one category anymore. Then they sit down to write a resume and try to communicate all of it equally.
That’s usually where the problems start.
In one recent Comprehensive Resume Review, a highly accomplished professional with a broad leadership background was struggling to gain traction despite having strong experience. The resume included valuable accomplishments and clear capability, but too many strengths were competing equally for attention. The document required interpretation instead of creating immediate clarity around where the candidate fit.
The focus of the review wasn’t adding more content or making the resume “sound better.” It was creating direction.
This involved narrowing the narrative, improving clarity, reducing ambiguity, and making sure the most relevant information stood out quickly during screening. The goal was to make it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to immediately understand how the candidate aligned with the roles being targeted.
That distinction matters more than many jobseekers realize.
Recruiters are usually trying to process large amounts of information quickly. When resumes communicate too many capabilities equally, even highly capable professionals can become harder to categorize during early-stage screening. The issue usually isn’t lack of experience. It’s that the positioning becomes too broad.
After implementing these changes, the client told us they’d scheduled more interviews in the previous week than they had in the last year. Later, after accepting a new role, they mentioned they’d never gotten a job so quickly.
Strong experience still matters, but resumes perform better when the narrative creates a clear sense of direction for the reader.
If your background is broad but your search isn’t gaining traction, it may be worth evaluating whether the resume is making your positioning easier or harder to understand. We can help with that!
If you’re curious what the process has been like for other clients, you can check out some testimonials here!
