So, how does one pass the resume screening round for Strategy & Ops roles?

Tactical tips to craft your resume highlighting "Scrappy" skills and to build your own experience inventory

Landing a Strategy & Ops (S&O) role often comes down to a combination of networking, resume crafting, and interview preparation. In this post, I'm spilling the tea on tactical resume bullet tips.

My Interview Process at DoorDash

First things first: Networking is gold. I got an interview through an alum I'd had coffee with a year before I saw the job posting. After passing resume screening and a recruiter call, a typical candidate will face at least 4-5 rounds of live chat interviews. Some companies including DoorDash might ask you complete an analytics test before getting into any of the live rounds.

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Standing Out in a Diverse Field

There's no one-size-fits-all background for S&O roles. The role attracts candidates from various backgrounds. So, how do you stand out? The key is to showcase your transferable skills and experiences in a way that aligns perfectly with the job description.

To get started, focus on showcasing these 3 essential skills

1. Analytical thinking and data analysis

   1. Show your ability to interpret data and translate to actionable insights.

   2. Example 1: "Analyzed customer data to identify trends, resulting in a 15% increase in retention rates”

2. Communication skills, especially cross-functional collaboration and influencing without authority

   1. Highlight your experience in cross-functional collaboration and influencing without direct authority

   2. "Raised $10,000 for local non-profit by orchestrating campus-wide charity gala for 500 attendees, leading team of 15 volunteers through event planning and execution"

3. A proactive "can-do" attitude, often referred to as "being scrappy"

   1. Demonstrate your ability to take initiative, solve problems creatively, and achieve results with limited resources.

   2. Example: “Executed fundraiser despite 50% budget cut by sourcing donations from 25 local businesses, reducing costs by $5,000 while maintaining event quality for 500 attendees"

Highlighting 1 & 2 (analytical and communication skills) is relatively straightforward. The challenge lies in demonstrating 3 "scrappiness." Here's how I would approach it.

Highlight “Scrappiness” in Resume Bullets

1. Quantify! Quantify! Quantify your work cannot be more important. You should try to include at least one quantitative metric per bullet, preferably both input and output metrics

   1. Input metrics show effort/scale (e.g. "Hosted event for 500 students")

   2. Output metrics demonstrate results (e.g. "Attained $10K in sales" or "Achieved 10% YoY growth")

2. Highlight hands-on projects where you have both strategic and operational involvement

   • Example: "Closed $100K contract AND implemented marketing campaign reaching 50K potential customers"

   • As the S&O title suggests, your hiring manager would prefer to see end-to-end ownership that you not only know how to design a house but also how to build one off-of a design

3. Show Proactive Creation or Improvement of Processes

   • Example: "Developed QR code ticketing system for 500-person fundraiser, slashing check-in time from 15 to 2 minutes and boosting on-time start rate from 60% to 95%"

   • Let people know that you're not just executing tasks, but actively looking for ways to enhance operations and outcomes.

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Translating Past Experience: A Personal Example

When it comes to experiences, the key is identifying these skills and articulating them effectively in your application and interviews. Here is my personal story:

My first job was at a Swiss watch company, where for e years I customized and recommended individual advertising plans for more than 70 retailers all over North America.It might not seem immediately relevant to a role in Strategy and Ops at DoorDash. What’s the connection here?

1. Client-facing skills: My experience working with numerous retailers honed my ability to understand and meet diverse client needs.

2. SMB expertise: The knowledge gained from advising small businesses proved invaluable when helping restaurants launch on DoorDash

3. Strategic thinking: Crafting individualized advertising plans demonstrated my capacity for strategic planning and execution.

The takeaway? Your past experiences, no matter how different they seem, often contain transferable skills that are highly relevant to S&O roles.

Building a versatile resume inventory

Here's a game-changing tip from my mentor Luisa (another undergrad alum!)

"List out every single thing you've done in a resume template first. Then choose which bullets to select for different types of jobs to ensure precise matching of background."

This advice is golden. It challenges you to think deeply about all your past experiences, including those you might initially dismiss as irrelevant. The process works like this:

1. Create an exhaustive list of all your experiences, projects, and achievements. No matter big or small.

2. For each item, identify the skills used and results achieved.

3. When applying for a specific role, select and tailor the most relevant experiences from your master list.

This approach is particularly useful when pivoting to a new field like Strategy & Ops, where diverse experiences can be surprisingly relevant.