While there's a lot of PM roles available now, there's also a lot of candidates applying. How would you suggest optimizing your resume or application process to stand out and get an interview?

I'll be blunt: because of the huge number of PMs on the market right now, you need to either have or find a connection into the company where you want to work. Simply optimizing your resume or cover letter isn't going to cut it; nothing beats a personal referral, or a warm intro, even if it is a few steps removed. Figure out how to use your LinkedIn 2nd or 3rd degree connections to get you to someone who's even proximate to the hiring manager for the position, and you will be miles ahead.

Keep your resume simple and focused on quantifiable contributions / impact that you’ve made. You want it to pop out that you're someone who can get stuff done as a hiring manager is scanning your resume. For example: I launched feature x, with y adoption goals, and z revenue impact. 

Besides your resume, leverage your network to make more personal connections, and stay genuine.

I love this question because as an interviewer who's looking at 100s of resumés each week, I'm also trying to figure out what makes candidate x stand out over candidate y.

I'd suggest doing two things:

1. Modify the standard resumé template to include a section for "The kind of PM I am" v/s "The kind of PM I'm not", and be really honest about what you enjoy doing day-to-day in your ideal role v/s what would demotivate you and bring you down. For example, "I love talking to customers every day as an inspiration for product ideas" and "I'm not the biggest fan of spending hours making high-polish slides for internal presentations".

2. Include a cover letter. This is something I've changed my mind on over time because most cover letters I've seen are unhelpful and vague. I'd suggest writing a cover letter that specifies what made you fall in love with their product, why you're excited to work on it, and some ideas you have for it. This level of personalization shows a ton of initiative and help differentiate you from the candidate pool.

Good Luck 😊