When your resume is reviewed by an employer or decision-maker, the reader needs to be able to tell who you are from what they read.

A resume is so much more than just a deadpan list of skills, facts, numbers and experience. Your resume needs to communicate the person you are too!

How will the reader tell the difference between a spirited, powerful personality as opposed to someone who is perhaps analytical and curious, or one who is detailed and thorough? These are all important components of presenting the full package to an employer to help with their decision making.

Now, this does not mean you should write down the personality descriptors that define you, e.g., spirited, analytical, or thorough. In fact, descriptions like these are often seen as subjective and can border on self-aggrandizement if you start referring to yourself as “charismatic or magnetic”—a real turn-off!

Instead, use the energy of your writing and choose words and phrases that you use daily, to convey the way you approach challenges and outcomes. Tell you stories so people understand the how and why of the way you go about your job. Who you are as a person speaks volumes of how you approach your job and tells an employer how you’ll fit in with their current team.

While resumes are a formal presentation of experience and skills, they also provide a word picture of you through the accomplishments being communicated. You will need to do some work in adjusting that raw data in your mind to depict your personality traits; for instance, say you are empathetic; you might communicate your achievement by talking about the way you deal with your teams. Maybe you’re an influencer; your achievements could mirror the way you think up new ways to make money and drive change while bringing people along for the ride.

It is up to you to come up with the facts first, then think about where you fit in the success of the task, and finally, use what you do best to showcase that achievement in words that reinforce who you are and what you bring to the table.

This is an important method of communicating in resumes that draws people to you to hear more.